


Diary of an Analog

by MF217



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Story Series | Digimon World Series, Digimon World Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coming of Age, Digital World, Elementary School, F/M, Gen, Other, Puberty, Retelling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 30,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24821419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MF217/pseuds/MF217
Summary: AU retelling of Digimon Adventure 02. 3 years had passed since the defeat of Apocalymon, and beginning with a confrontation that nearly destroys the human world, every Digimon is trying to achieve Mega Level at an alarming rate. 11 year old Takaishi "T.K." Takeru must work to help his partner Patamon Digivolve to Mega Level, or face utter annihilation from a mysterious foe...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue: Morning of Remembrance

**Author's Note:**

> (Disclaimer: This work is a non-profit fan fiction for Digimon. I do not own Digimon nor do I own any of the characters aside from original characters I have created solely for this story. Likewise, the names and or characterization of canon characters may or may not have been altered for the purpose of this fan fiction, but that does not mean I necessarily own them nor does that automatically make them original characters as well. Any resemblances to characters real or fictional, living or not, is purely coincidental, and are not meant to be seen as hateful towards whomever they may or may not resemble. The property of Digimon belongs to Akiyoshi Hongo, which in turn is distributed by Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., Toei Animation, and WiZ. Please support the official works.)  
> (Note: This fic is not part of the Citadel of the Heart continuity)

The first day of school in this neighborhood. Gone are the days of the evils of Devimon, Myotismon, or Apocalymon and the four Dark Masters. A crisis narrowly averted by a heavenly savior of fire and ice, slaying the tenacious demon of a virus from just a few years ago. Things had gone back to normal. Though, in all honesty, I believe everything has been a little too normal for my own good.

"Hiya!"

My loyal partner speaks from atop my head, as my groggy eyes slowly open to realize his presence. My loyal partner? A creature known as a Digital Monster. A type of virtual life-form whose own laws of the jungle, so to speak, do not obey the rules of what is our own world. We, however, refer to them mostly as Digimon for short.

"T.K.! It's time to wake up! You'll be late for school!" My partner speaks, as I begin to move from underneath my blanket, catching the flying guinea pig-esque Digimon before me; his body a bright yellow, striking blue eyes, and bat-like wings for ears. This is a Digimon of the Rookie Level Generation, known as Patamon.

"Patamon… School won't be starting for another hour, do I really have to be up this early?" I said, as Patamon looked me straight into my sleepy looking, equally blue eyes.

"You had that dream again, didn't you? The one about the man trying to enslave all Digimon?" Patamon asks, innocently, with the tone of a naive child in his voice. However, he was anything but naive. I nod my head in response, a bit lazily I might add, but truthful nevertheless.

For the past few weeks, I had been having strange dreams. Sometimes innocent in nature, before becoming… odd, but nothing more than that. Then there are the ones involving this mysterious man of sorts; a wicked, cruel dictator who enslaves Digimon left and right. Donning a navy blue cape and spiky, dark bluish hair, wearing goggles fashioned like a mask. Each and every dream would begin exactly the same; "You will all bow before the Digimon Emperor!"

However, that was merely the beginning of how several scenarios play out. One vision has me and my partner attempting to fight back, but as a Rookie Level Digimon, Patamon wouldn't stand a chance. Patamon undergoes a transformation known as "Digivolution", which ascends him to the Champion Level Generation, taking the form of a six winged, humanoid angel with an obscured face behind a metal mask. In this form, he is known as Angemon.

A fight then proceeds to break out, but the outcome is always interrupted. Other friends of mine would sometimes come to my aid, each with a partner Digimon of their own. I know a very close friend, a girl roughly my own age, who tries to defend me against an unseen Digimon with many mismatched limbs. Her partner Digimon is known as Gatomon, a white cat with large, glove covered paws and a divine ring attached to her tail perpetually.

Gatomon is also of the Champion Level Generation, much like Angemon. However, there is a distinct difference. Angemon could only maintain said form temporarily, whereas Gatomon almost always remains in Champion Level form. She had to learn the hard way that life was rough, and her harsher background had led to her being robbed of the child-like innocence presence in my own Digimon; one could say she is the only adult among the partner Digimon myself and my friends have with us.

That aside, in some situations, Gatomon would also undergo Digivolution herself, into the Ultimate Level Generation. In this form, she becomes an eight winged angel, likewise covered with a face obscuring helmet, and having a very pretty appearance. She is known as Angewomon, and I'm not trying to make a pun with that, she is literally called that.

Yeah, as you can imagine, this all seems like fun and games at first; until I remind myself that Digimon are very, very real individual entities who exist in a world parallel to our own. We learned the hard way that Digimon could enter the human world seemingly without warning, and one time that happened, a violent, demonic beast was unleashed across all of Japan, with a miracle being invoked to stop its wrath. My older brother, Matt, as we like to call him, and his friend Tai, had two partner Digimon who pulled off something everyone else's Digimon couldn't at the time.

They underwent a miraculous Digivolution known as "Warp Digivolving", causing them to skip the Champion Level altogether, and then leading them into a Generation higher than even Ultimate. The Mega Level Generation, as we had discovered the hard way. These two, known as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, fought through thick and thin to save everyone's hides in Japan, but also proved essential to putting an end to the remaining villainy taking place in the Digital World; the world from which Digimon originate.

After having endured many hardships, the demons of a group called the Dark Masters and their leader, Apocalymon, were no more. However, that was only the end of a new era; the era in which Digimon left and right did whatever they could to become stronger than ever. The year 2000 caused many mechanical devices to malfunction in the real world, culminating in a fight between Tai and Matt's partners and a Digimon known simply as Diablomon, the first Digimon of a new era of Digimon; the era in which every Digimon's dream was now to strive to become Mega Level, no matter the stakes at hand.

It took a literal combination of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon to slay Diablomon. Combining into a form which a friend of mine told me was a Mega Level with tenfold the strength of WarGreymon or MetalGarurumon individually. A Digimon which took the appearance of a knight, with weaponry forged from WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon's beings. We called it "Omegamon".

"T.K., are you lost in thought again? I know you said you want to ace literature but perhaps you should think of what's before us first before thinking about the future. Besides, because of you daydreaming, we've got only 30 minutes left before school starts now!" Patamon tells me, interrupting my train of thought with a moment of panic. I am aware that I do ramble in my mind like this. A lot. Often times I have little control over it, however, and that said, I quickly grabbed Patamon, grabbed my white hat at the side of my bed, and moved to prep myself for school.

A quick shower, a small slice of toast to eat later, and now being fully dressed and presentable, today marks the first day in which I, Takaishi Takeru, conquer my first day of 5th grade with the elegant breeze of an angel's wings.

Little did I know, however, how exactly today would go wrong. Horribly, horribly, horribly wrong. I know, deep down, that my training with Patamon over the past three years has not been enough. I need for him to Digivolve to Mega Level, so that I can ensure I can protect my friends and myself from whatever this dream I keep having is warning me about. You think I sound superstitious about this, perhaps? Possibly a little too concerned.

Well, here's where the kid gloves come off; those dreams, despite what Patamon currently knows, are indeed real. I still need to know, though; how safe is my brother in his attempts to make sure I don't have to do the fighting myself? I only know that it's a matter of time before even he is overwhelmed by all of this. That's why I need to become stronger with Patamon at my side. I need to stop relying on my brother to save me from life or death situations.

Today will be the day I attempt to begin to fight my own battles.

* * *

_A large dinosaurian reptile and a large wolf-like beast are down, wounded, in the heat of a battle which they don't know how long has lasted just yet. What they do know, however, is that they are not strong enough. They need to Digivolve, now!_

_"Greymon, Digivolve to…!"_

_"Garurumon, Digivolve to…!"_

_An explosive force of greenish energy ignites around both of them; engulfing them entirely in energy as they both change back into the forms of a small yellow dinosaur and a small, pelt adorned reptile respectively._

_"I had told you to yield. I was investigating a serious matter, yet you two had the audacity to charge me blindly?" The unseen adversary among the mist ahead of them speaks, as the two Digimon move to stand._

_"Agumon, I don't like the looks of this..."_

_"Oh come on, Gabumon, we can't let her through! If she gets through to the human world, she'll have no trouble easily hurting our friends!" Agumon speaks back to his friend, known as Gabumon. A haughty laugh, low in tone, and a very brief instance to the point these two didn't even notice it. Stepping forward from the mist, making heavy, giant footsteps with each step she takes, is the frame of a black and gold armored, humanoid Digimon with a triangular red symbol atop her forehead._

_"I will not allow this crisis to grow stronger knowing you two will not yield. I, Lady Sigma, an Alphamon of the Royal Knights, command you to leave here at once!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: Hoo boy, this story was quite some time coming considering the fact I've been wanting to try my own hand at an 02 rewrite for some time now. You'll notice a lot of the things I changed or altered in terms of general context, but hopefully they're not too jarring to cause any problems right away. Anyways, I hope you stick around and keep an eye out, because more chapters will follow very soon. Most chapters will basically be narrated by T.K., but have somewhere at either the beginning or end of the chapter which'll be in third person. The actual story that matters the most will be through T.K.'s narration, with anything else meant to be used for foreshadowing specific developments. Also, you'll notice right away I'm using both a mixture of the Dub and Japanese terminology. The reason? I'm mostly sticking with the Dub names, but should I prefer a specific Japanese terminology more, I can and will use that in place of the Dub name. I apologize, but after having been so used to referring to Omnimon as it's Japanese name of Omegamon, in addition to the pun that creates with Alphamon's name, I can't ever find myself ever referring to Omegamon by it's Dub name by default no matter which media of Digimon I write for.)


	2. Chapter 1: The Knight Templar

Odaiba Elementary School is a school I didn't expect to attend in quite a long time. Had this been many, many years ago, my mom wouldn't have even dared to have the two of us move back to Odaiba. Tai had first met his partner, Agumon, through a fateful encounter in Odaiba in which a wild Digimon known as Parrotmon infiltrated the real world. Those two fought quite brutally, but all of the incident had just become another memory in hindsight.

I recall it very clear as day, however, if merely because of one crucial thing. I had learned that those who see a Digimon ultimately wind up acquiring a partner of their own and becoming known as a "DigiDestined". It doesn't matter who you are, or what you've done in your life. So long as you've seen a Digimon in any capacity while in the real world, your connection to the Digital World becomes fixed in stone, and eventually, you will meet your partner Digimon at some point in time.

It took years for me to meet my own partner Patamon after the incident with Parrotmon, but then again, I was so young during said incident that I didn't even know what I was about to get myself into.

Anyways, perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself here. Right now, as I take the elevator in this apartment down to the ground floor, Patamon is hiding underneath my hat to keep out of sight. Sure, Digimon have appeared in the real world more than once by this point, but I didn't want to draw too much unnecessary attention if anyone just casually saw Patamon clear as day. Even if I could hide him as a plush toy in plain sight, I have a feeling someone would recognize him at some point or another.

"Hiya~!"

I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear that spoken by a girl's voice, due to not recognizing the distinct sound of her accent. Her accent brings to mind someone from Osaka, and she sounds rather bubbly at that. As I turn myself around, to face the door of the elevator, two individuals come into the elevator. A younger boy, who kind of reminds me of myself when I was his age, and a rather tall, skinny girl who seems to be a tiny bit older than me.

"I apologize, Yolei can be a bit playful with new faces." The boy speaks to me, as I look at the girl, whose name is Yolei, as she playfully moves to hide behind me and hide herself from visible view. As I try and look to where she could be, she moves too quick for me to keep her in sight. All the while, I can hear her giggling, at first slowly, before turning into an uproar of laughter.

"Oh my gods, you dork. I'm just jesting with you, cutie~!" Yolei speaks, as she giggles a bit. I can feel my face redden a bit from embarrassment. I'm reminded a little bit of my brother's experiences with girls, especially in the form of a redhead I know who is now his girlfriend.

"Um… Er… Hello? M-My name is Takaishi Takeru. My friends call me 'T.K.'."I introduce to these two neighbors, having never met them before. They had to be neighbors, right? I mean, why else would these two be here when school's soon to start?

"Again, my apologies for Yolei's behavior, she's been a tad energetic ever since our trip to America over the course of the summer. Speaking of which, my name is Hida Iori, but don't expect Yolei to stop calling me 'Cody' any time soon." Iori speaks, as he sounds oddly polite in tone to the point he seemed a little too good to be true. Yolei, giggling still I see her kneel down to Iori, with her much taller height being emphasized by kneeling down so low that Iori is simply standing to look her in the face.

"Cody, don't be so tense about the new kid on the block! I'm sure he's just as looking forward to us introducing him to Davis as we are!" Yolei speaks… "Davis", that name sounds familiar, but I can't seem to recall why? I could've sworn I heard that name before, but these two claim to be his friends? Okay, I can see where this is going.

"Alright, I'll be looking forward to meeting Davis myself as well." I eagerly respond, hoping I would make at least a few new friends at Odaiba Elementary School, considering how distant I've kind of become from everyone else over three years. Iori looks over towards the side, turning his gaze away from me, as Yolei moves to stand as she pats Iori on the head.

"Forgive him, he's kind of a party pooper at times when it comes to meeting new people." Yolei speaks. I can hear the clock ticking in my head if these two don't realize that-

"Er… Could we just get to school already first? We've got like 20 minutes left til the first bell rings." Iori speaks, as I breathe a sigh of relief in my mind as I could hear Yolei yelp as my hair stands up on the back of my head; bad move, considering my partner hiding under my hat. Something feels amiss all of a sudden, though...

"Ack! You're right! We need to hurry and-… Wha?" Yolei speaks in panic, before something about her voice falters, her gaze fixating above my head and- Oh no… Oh dear gods no… Tell me Patamon didn't get startled and jump?!

"T.K.! That really startled me! What's going on?!" Patamon speaks, as I look up at him as I watch him flying around blindly in the air, my hat covering his face still as I nearly freak when Yolei lets out a very, very loud scream at the sight of Patamon. I don't even see what Iori does behind my back as I try to get Yolei to calm down; a few waving hand gestures would probably help ease her, knowing how energetic she is so far and-

"Hey! You! The one with Takaishi's hat! Get down here!" Iori shouts with an uncharacteristically savage tone in his voice; this day couldn't possibly get any worse could it? First I woke up late, then these two run into me with Yolei yelping and spooking me, spooking Patamon, and then prompting Iori to suddenly become very ticked and- Why do I hear loud footsteps approaching?

Iori and Yolei turn around towards the roads, as I turn around upon feeling the footsteps drawing nearer. Oh, dear… This is not good! How did a Digimon this big suddenly enter our world?

Digimon entering our world hasn't exactly been an uncommon occurrence, especially for big ones. The fact something this heavily armored, pitch black with a gold trim, standing completely out of place as an otherwise near 30 foot tall Super Robot type of look, and now Yolei and Iori are-

Hold on, stop right there, Takeru; you can handle this, you're older now, and Patamon is with you, and you already know you always carry your Digivice with you in your shirt pocket. I check to see if it's still there, and when I pull it out, I begin to see the screen glow as Patamon manages to shake off my hat as it suddenly goes flying into the wind. I couldn't care at that moment, though, since I needed to fend off an evil Digimon invading the human world right now!

"Patamon! Let's deal with this one the way we've practiced! You ready to Digivolve?"

"Roger that, T.K.!" Patamon answers back, as I hold out my Digivice towards him as a shining light engulfs Patamon as his entire body begins to glow, before suddenly shifting entirely in size and overall body type.

"Patamon, Warp Digivolve to…!" Patamon speaks, as manifesting from the light is an armored, violet and silver armored angel with eight wings and a sword mounted on his arm.

"MagnaAngemon!" MagnaAngemon calls out; this is his Ultimate Level form. I had mentioned Warp Digivolution is how Tai and Matt had their Digimon achieve Mega Level, right? Well, I learned how to use it as well, only because Patamon can't become Mega Level yet, I instead practiced with him to try and have him skip Champion Level and go straight into Ultimate Level.

"Aha! There you are!" The black armored Digimon shouts towards my presence, as with a wave of it's hand a bright, green energy begins to form in a circular shape. MagnaAngemon takes a battle stance in front of me, as he looks back partially to me.

"T.K.! Escort Iori and Yolei to safety! I'll handle this on my own!" MagnaAngemon warns me, as I nearly shake my head, as Yolei and Iori attempt to drag me away with them to escape.

"No! I need to stay here with you! I've never seen this type of Digimon before, we have no idea what we're dealing with! This could be a Mega Level for all we know!" My concerns fall on deaf ears, however, as that simply gets a chuckle from MagnaAngemon.

"Very well, I will take on this Digimon to prove that our training has not been failing us!" MagnaAngemon speaks, boldly, compared to his usual timid self as Patamon. As I feel myself dragged away from the fight, I look towards Yolei and Iori.

"Look, I'll have to explain later, but we need to get out of here!" I warn these two, as Yolei and Iori nod, Iori's eyes closed as I could hear him muttering something, but I have to move to, carefully, pick him up and escort him out of the area with Yolei assisting me.

Today has been a bad start, how is the rest of the day going to go? I can only wonder how much of a chance MagnaAngemon has against this foe; I hope our training was not in vain.

* * *

_"Cease what you are doing right now, Archangel, before I am forced to disarm you myself. I will not tolerate interference of any kind, not even from an Angel like you." Lady Sigma speaks, as she gazes upon MagnaAngemon, her hand preparing to fire green spheres of energy out of the magic circle being generated._

_"Who are you to speak such blasphemy against my kind?!" MagnaAngemon speaks, as Lady Sigma merely chuckles a bit, darkly._

_"Humorous that someone would say such a thing when they resemble that remark a little too well. I mean, after all, I am a Royal Knight; I have no need to answer to the Angels like you, nor do I care what you say on it. As Alphamon of the Royal Knights, I am ordered to appear in the times of extreme crisis." Lady Sigma introduces, as MagnaAngemon still keeps his guard up, as Lady Sigma's eyes narrow a bit._

_"… Fine. Perhaps I need to remind you of one thing and one thing alone; I do not fear inflicting casualties to fulfill my purpose!" Lady Sigma states, before making a sharp turn towards the left. "Soul Digitalization! Full Power!" Lady Sigma speaks on an oddly calm tone for what would follow; a massive energy beam of crystalline green energy fires out from her hand, as within seconds flat, an entire city block is atomized to the ground as rubble. MagnaAngemon grits his teeth; he can sense the sudden sound of silence from those who occupied that building._

_"Stop this! Immediately!" MagnaAngemon speaks, before aiming his sword high into the air, as he draws and manifests a circular magic that summons forth a golden ring which opens up to reveal a strange wormhole. The wormhole begins to force Lady Sigma's movement towards MagnaAngemon, as the gate devours the remainder of Lady Sigma's energy beam attack in one foul swoop._

_"Nice, but you are still an interference." Lady Sigma speaks, as she draws forth a white sword of pure energy from her right hand. "You will yield before me, or perish like the rest; I don't care which at this rate!" She shouts towards MagnaAngemon, as both of them glare at each other as MagnaAngemon unsheathes his sword as he charges at her._

_MagnaAngemon's movements are swift, and powerful, with each strike he tries to make against Lady Sigma's armored body; however, he is quick to notice that his slashes and cuts with his sword are only marginally scratching her tough armor. However, at the same time, Lady Sigma's bulky frame and unwieldy nature of her armor prevents her from keeping up, as she begins to charge a magic circle in her left hand as she steadies her right arm with her sword._

_Soon enough, MagnaAngemon's attempts to cut away at her armor reveals a nasty weakpoint that suddenly causes Lady Sigma to falter in her step, as her knee armor crumbles a bit. Suddenly disappearing faster than light, MagnaAngemon materializes out of nowhere as he strikes Lady Sigma's knees with a very powerful kick from both of his heavily reinforced, sharply pointed boots. However, he gets careless, with trying to take out her other leg, as Lady Sigma catches him off guard and slices off a few of MagnaAngemon's eight wings with her sword, effectively leaving him grounded, but far from out of the fight. Impressive as Lady Sigma's tall frame is compared to MagnaAngemon's shorter, gracile frame, the latter still had the advantage of sheer agility, since his main body was not harmed from her attack._

_MagnaAngemon jumps high into the air, a blinding light accompanying his movements, as he dives forward, his sword manifesting a giant beam of energy, as he slices virtually across Lady Sigma's chest, actually managing to pierce her armor and cause her to fall backwards. Lady Sigma's eyes appear closed, as MagnaAngemon frowns a bit._

_"I didn't want it to end like this..." He mutters, only to hear quiet, subdued chuckling coming from Lady Sigma's body, before soon said soft, quiet chuckling gives way to louder snickering, before turning into an uproarious laughter._

_"You childish fool! You honestly thought I was what your sword would consider evil with that strike?! Did you really think that such an attack would destroy me? How naive you truly are, knowing what hell your Analog of a partner had unleashed upon my world." Lady Sigma speaks out, a massive tangent compared to her usual subdued voice, as she moves to force herself to stand, as her injuries begin to heal at an immense rate._

_"I'll give you this much, traitor; you fight well, but it won't matter." Lady Sigma speaks, as MagnaAngemon's mouth gapes a bit open, but does not audibly gasp. Instead, he frowns as his mouth closes, as his gaze becomes serious. He sheathes he weaponry, as he approaches Lady Sigma to stare her in the eyes. 15 feet up from where he stands before her._

_"You invaded this world first, I think your danger to humankind has already become crystal clear; do you repent what you had just done mere moments ago?" MagnaAngemon asks, as Lady Sigma glares him down._

_"Until these beings you call humans cease being what folks like me call Analogs, then I will never repent; the only good Analog is a dead one. I will hope you reconsider your actions in that foolish war you had engaged in three years ago, Archangel." Lady Sigma speaks, bluntly, without emotion in her tone, as MagnaAngemon grits his teeth._

_"Why do you insist referring to me as the one in the wrong here?! What lies were spoken to you to give you this impression?!" MagnaAngemon demands, as Lady Sigma materializes a small object in her palm, before handing it down to MagnaAngemon. MagnaAngemon looks at what he had received, and stops himself from letting out a gasp._

_"I-It cannot be…" MagnaAngemon speaks in a somber tone; the item he received is some kind of book, with a lock on it indicating it to be a diary of some sort._

_"Listen well, Archangel, if you ever wish to redeem yourself. Read the contents of that book carefully, and listen to what it has to say well; remove all bias from your Analog associates and make judgment on your own accord. I will leave, for now, but let this destroyed section of this town remain as a warning for what will happen if we cross paths again." Lady Sigma speaks, as a gigantic portal manifests behind her; she leaps into the air, her giant pauldrons forming wings as she disappears into the portal, as MagnaAngemon is looking at this odd book with deep concern, with a small label on it visible._

_"Diary of an Analog"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: Bonus points to those who get my references I mean when I use the term Analog as a slur for Digimon to use to refer to humans as. Those who have played the video games will understand where I intend to go with this plot point very, very well ahead of the actual reveals to be had.)


	3. Chapter 2: Stronghold of Education

We are late. We are sooo late right now. All that matters for the moment is we got away safely, but I honestly have no idea how to explain to the homeroom teacher as to why we're late and in such a panic. Even then I had no heads up on who Yolei or Iori even are, so that can't even be faulted on me. As I approach the elementary school with Yolei and Iori slowly trailing behind, however, there is a familiar face I do see.

"Hello, T.K.." A short, brown haired girl with chocolate eyes known only as Kari to me speaks as she makes an odd gesture with her arms behind her back with his front leaning down. I didn't know what to make of it, and from the look on Kari's face, she doesn't seem to realize anything about it either. Whatever it was, it had Yolei laughing up a storm while Iori was trying to ask what was so funny about this.

"Davis is so going to flip when he hears about this guy, isn't he?" Yolei asks Iori, as I look back and notice as Iori seems… indifferent.

"… Miyako, I don't really have the slightest clue as to what you're referring I'm afraid..." Iori speaks, as Yolei gasps a bit.

"Um, okay, seriously? Referring to me by my birth name all of a sudden?" Yolei asks, innocently before I can see her eyes narrow a bit. "… Something is wrong, isn't there…?" Yolei whispers to Iori, as the two of them chat with each other at an inaudible volume. Considering these two are safe now, perhaps I should see what Kari wants to greet me for. As I approach her, I can't help but feel a little bit… weird.

I've known Kari for the past 3 years now, possibly having met her earlier than that, but never before had I felt weird just being around her. She's a close friend of mine, after all, so why am I feeling odd about it?

"Sooo, T.K., you do know you're late, right? Not that I can't blame you considering the rapid word of mouth going around..." Kari tells me, as I nod to her. I approach her to whisper something, making sure nobody else is nearby to listen in.

"Kari, I believe something dangerous is either going to happen or already has, and I'm more than willing to bet that this giant armored Digimon MagnaAngemon began to fight to allow me to escape with these two is the something we were supposed to notice." I explain to her, as Kari nods.

"Our older brothers tried to get into contact with Agumon and Gabumon, and they haven't heard from either of them in 3 hours. Izzy managed to get a brief snippet from them describing a similar looking Digimon." Kari informs me, as I nod to her.

"Precisely, and what's worse? I have a feeling this is the third Mega Level we've had to go out of our way to deal with in the past week." I inform her in regards to what I assumed was the Digimon's Generation, based off of the massive explosion I heard from behind us while fleeing with Yolei and Iori.

"I think you're right, and if Izzy's predictions are accurate, we're supposed to expect another Mega Level at some point today. Izzy can't even identify just yet what kind of Mega Level attacked the last few times, but it seems to be specifically targeting everyone associated with us." Kari informs me, as I shake my head.

"We'd better hope that Agumon and Gabumon can recover; they're both the only two that can Digivolve to Mega Level thus far, and I'm still undergoing training with Patamon to try and achieve such a Digivolution for him myself." I tell her. I hate to sound repetitive about this, but Kari and I go on for quite a bit about our past history and what has been going on as of late. Perhaps I need to share this information to get the word out.

The two of us, as well as six others, form a group known as the DigiDestined, and we were a group that saved the Digital World countless of times from numerous evil Digimon that had existed at one point. We were not the first to have been referred to as such, and we're more than likely not the last. After all, to simply acquire a partner Digimon for yourself, all you need to do is simply see a Digimon. Which brings to the question… we kind of have to spill the beans to Yolei and Iori about this, knowing that they're both in danger because of said incident. That's even being really generous with assuming they didn't witness any other real world based Digimon sighting…

"Say, uh, Yolei, Iori?" I ask, as I turn to face them, as I can practically hear something approaching, "Look, listen, Kari and I need to-"

Not even being able to get a word out after having been smacked in the head with a stray soccer ball was able to make this day any better. I honestly wished my hat was what hit me instead.

"Oh, hey! Sorry about that!" A voice calls to me, as it sounds distinctly male in sound and distinctly energetic in how quickly he spoke. Approaching me is a bit of a shorter male, not too short, but one with bushy hair and goggles adorned on his head, and having somewhat reddish hair. Yolei and Iori both look our way, as Yolei seems to become shy all of a sudden.

"My name is Davis, I'm one of Kari's classmates and… Why exactly are you talking to Kari?" Davis introduces, as Davis couldn't seem to pay attention for a fraction of a moment before changing the subject, as he glances over towards Kari, then me, and then both of us with rather shifty eyes. I simply look back at him rather confused.

"I-I'm sorry… to what are you referring?" I ask, honestly, for Davis to elaborate. Davis looks over towards Kari, pushing me aside a bit as Hikari backs up into a nearby wall.

"Oh hey Kari! I've been looking everywhere for you today, I was told that-" Davis tries to speak, as Yolei approaches without warning as I see her tap his shoulder… and the expression on her face isn't exactly the bubbly one she's had prior.

"Davis?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have a moment?"

"Yolei..."

"Daisuke…!" Yolei speaks, apparently Davis' actual name at that, as she forcefully drags Davis aside b the ear and begins whispering up a storm into Davis' ear. Kari approaches me at my side. That felt odd.

"Is he… troubled?" I ask, as Kari shrugs.

"I don't know, I know he's a big fanatic for my brother though. He's definitely got a lot of positive energy going for him, though." Kari speaks, as we both hear a distinctly familiar panting approaching us, as loud, thunderous footsteps of several dozen individuals are approaching.

"Hikari! We've got trouble!" The familiar voice of Kari's partner, Gatomon, speaks up, as trailing behind her are at least a dozen, if not more, Digimon with the aesthetic of knights, and… Is that my Crest adorned on their armor?! I actually kind of feel a tad offended that such hostile Digimon are using my Crest of Hope as their motif.

"Takeru, we've got to hurry inside, they won't fit in the hallways with that armor!" Gatomon tries to warn me and Kari, as Davis, Yolei, and Iori all flee for indoors, with Davis trying to ask multiple things such as who or what Gatomon is, who or what these Knightmon are, and some other things before he gets too far away to hear.

Then of course as per frickin' usual I get dragged by the arm by Kari into the school building proper. As I look back at our pursuers, they seem to actively stop at the gates. However, just before I get dragged indoors, three pairs of them split off into different directions, more than likely going to jump us with at least two or more of them at once.

"… They've never attacked us in a group like that before… What Level were those?" I ask Gatomon, as Gatomon is catching her breath before answering.

"Knightmon, Ultimate Level, and their armor is too strong for my claws to scratch, I tried Digivolving to Ultimate to deal with them, they clipped my wings and reverted me back before I had a chance to move… These guys clearly had quite a nerve ganging up on an innocent girl like me!" Gatomon finishes, as Kari nods her heads towards the side, as I look, as does Gatomon, as we see Davis, Yolei, and Iori huddling in a corner, with Davis trying to calm and reassure his two friends.

"Guys, we'll be fine, I've seen these type of beings before. Tai will most certainly handle them for us." Davis reassures his friend, his voice calmer, and slower, than it was before. He seems rather sincere, showing legitimate concern for these two. Then again, I don't even know them still, and Davis has probably known them for far longer.

… Hold on, though. Davis said he knows about Tai and Agumon, or at least is somewhat aware of what Digimon even are. How come he hasn't been attacked yet? How the heck is this guy staying positive knowing how much danger he's in if he happens to even remotely know Tai enough to have past experience?!

"Davis… Daisuke… Whichever you prefer I call you… Mind explaining to me how you're not dead yet if you know what Digimon are?" I ask, as Davis looks over towards me, as he walks up towards a nearby PC screen on display embedded in the wall. Davis walks up to it, putting his hand on it.

"You're not fooling me, and neither are you, Kari. You're all in on a big secret that has everyone else in Japan eternally grateful for what you did when you had saved us from that Myotismon creep." Davis informs me, as Yolei perks up with a gasp.

"Yeah, and we most certainly owe you for having averted a crisis with that Peacemaker Missile two years back. If it hadn't been for that particular Knight with those odd arms, we'd have all been screwed by some El Diablo thingamajig that took over the entire internet that fateful day." Yolei informs me, as Iori moves to clear his throat.

"And Kari, you'll always have my sympathies for what tragedy you were involved in so many years ago; had it not been for Greymon fighting with Parrotmon, the hospital I was being kept in at the time would've been destroyed." Iori tells her with an incredibly polite tone, eerily calm to the point it seems unreal for him to speak in such a way.

"… So you three already know what we're hiding from everyone?" I ask, as Kari nods to me.

"They know; everyone at school knows. We've just been slowly been caught up in so much that we'll have to stop downplaying the situation sooner or later." Kari speaks to me, as she looks around, noticing Gatomon right next to her, as she seems disturbed, as I look around, warily.

"Where's Patamon? Is he alright?!" I ask, frantically, as I soon see my hat falling down on the floor, as someone large is walking down the hallway. However, the presence is comforting. A staff accompanies it's footsteps, as appearing from behind the corner is Angemon, having a severely damaged right arm.

"Those Knightmon at the front door put up quite a nasty fight before I was even able to remotely get in to make sure you're safe. I have a feeling I've missed several of them, if not even more…" Angemon speaks, as he gives us a sort of all clear where we stand right now. He moves to push his staff into the floor, as a large, holy barrier surrounds us and protects us.

"My power is draining rapidly, but I can at least ward those Knightmon off by placing a seal around us. If we get jumped by a Mega Level, I can't guarantee any of our safety in that case..." Angemon speaks with honesty, as my eyes widen, and I can practically feel Kari having the same reaction.

"What species was it? Izzy couldn't get a read on one that kept showing up frequently over the past few days. Is this the same Digimon?" Kari asks, as I can't help but feel a glare coming my way.

"It apparently identified itself as 'Alphamon', but I've never heard of a Digimon like that before. It also apparently is from an odd group called the Royal Knights; the same faction that went after us over the past month with an individual appearance from a Crusadermon and Gallantmon respectively." Angemon speaks, as Davis suddenly whistles for everyone's attention as he leans back against the screen in the hallway.

"Hold it, hold it, hold it! Seriously if we're supposed to be filled in on some not-so-secret masquerade at least sit us down and have a more in-depth explanation as opposed to leaving us out, please? I feel like we have the right to know at this rate based off our past experiences." Davis brings up; none of us could see an entity emerging from the monitor screen in the hall, though, as a massive hand moves to quickly grab Davis out of sight.

"Indeed, he does have every right to know the havoc you two and your associates have caused all of us Digimon. In fact, I'll escort him to the dungeon and interrogate him myself before I decide how I want to execute him!" A female voice speaks, loud and clear, in a disturbingly monotone voice for someone whose every emotion feels like utter hatred and contempt for us. I look at the screen, as an image of the Digimon's face and upper body appears.

"I am Lady Sigma of the Royal Knights, I am an Alphamon. You may have noticed my presence over the past while now considering I've finally had enough of you Analogs trespassing and invading our turf like we're some kind of joke to you." Lady Sigma introduces… oddly unusual for such a name for her to have, but still a psycho nevertheless.

"Why have you been chasing us down for so long?" I ask, aloud, as I can hear footsteps rushing down the stairs, as I quickly give them a glance, "Tai! You're here!"

"And just in time, too, it would seem. So what's the deal with this black knight appearing and causing us trouble?" Tai asks, as he isn't even allowed to introduce himself as Lady Sigma suddenly lets out an ungodly, non-humanoid sounding noise of some kind.

"Murderer! You're the rat who was sided with that WarGreymon, weren't you? I know what you did, you murderous Analog." Lady Sigma accuses of Tai in an utter fit of rage, as I'm scared speechless as Kari and I observe, all the while I can hear Yolei and Iori freaking out behind us. I step aside, for the moment, to calm them down; in doing so, I miss out on what exactly is being said.

"Yolei, Iori, please, remain calm, Tai, Kari and I will rescue Davis for you guys and bring him home safe and sound." I tell the two, as both of them look at me, sniffling a bit in fright all the while they cling to each other.

"Angemon! Where'd you get that?!" Gatomon suddenly shouts at an alarming volume, nearly blasting my hearing out briefly, as Gatomon's hairs stand up as she looks hostile towards Angemon. I look over towards him; he's holding some kind of weird looking book… a diary, perhaps?

"Well that is a very good question indeed. Perhaps I should read aloud a few pages I have in memory from that very plagued thing that doesn't deserve to be dignified in what it is meant to be..."

* * *

_Davis is within a dungeon. No light, no hope, just darkness._

_"Come on, Davis! You won't let these guys scare you! You're courageous! You have actual friends!" Davis talks to himself to keep positive about the situation, as he never laughs, before quieting down._

_"… If only I knew a miracle to get out of this nonsense and fight my own battles..." Davis speaks, solemnly, as he hears the door to the cell open up, as Davis looks on in front into the dark. "… So much for a miracle… this is it, so it would seem..." Davis speaks, utterly horrified as something approaches… something… small? With a big head?_

_Davis blinks, trying to focus his gaze in the dark to see what is approaching. It appears to be a small, bluish reptile with dog-like ears and a small horn for a nose._

_"Who… Who ish thish?" The Digimon asks, as Davis tilts his head._

_"Ish? Thish? Don't you mean, 'Who is this'?" Davis asks, as the Digimon nods._

_"That'sh what I shaid! I am Veemon, and I'm a little losht ash to why I have the keysh to thish place… Why am I here? Do you know me?" Veemon asks, as Davis looks unsure, before answering._

_"… It's… a long, complicated story… my old friend…"_


	4. Chapter 3: Copy and Paste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So this chapter is long overdue. Sorry for the immense delay, the wait must've been painful. Trust me though, at least most of you probably don't have the deteriorating sanity that I tend to be suffering this whole year so far. Anyways, hopefully you enjoy what I have this time around.

"Izzy? It's me, T.K.. Do you have the time to spare with assisting with explaining our group secret with two people we've met today who got caught in the crossfire of things? Tai, Kari, and I need to rescue someone from a Digimon, and considering the situation is dire, all three of us will have to take off relatively quickly.

-Takaishi Takeru"

A simple message sent from my PDA to a friend of mine to inform him about Yolei and Iori's state of panic. I didn't want to give Izzy the wrong idea by saying I know these two; sure, they seem nice so far, but I'm uncertain a little. Yolei is perhaps a little too energetic and bubbly for own good, and Iori's anger is fierce once you figure out where the pressure points for it are. Even then, however, I've only known them for several minutes at most.

Are these two who I could possibly consider friends? Had this day not become hectic due to a Mega Level enemy Digimon, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how things would've turned out instead.

Right now, however, Davis, Daisuke, whichever he wants to be called by, is in danger, as I reach into my pocket and reach for my Digivice. With it in my hand, I firmly grab it in my hand as I close my eyes. Holding it to my chest, I can hear my own pulse within my mind as I concentrate. Without me even needing to open my eyes, I already can feel from the immense rumbling that my Digivice is suddenly being charged with an odd phenomenon.

The Light of Digivolution.

What my friends and I have learned as DigiDestined is that our Digimon undergo what is merely an artificial form of Digivolution, powered by our own Digivices. Our Digivices are considered borderline sacred objects which came from the Gods. Call it a stretch, I know, but then again when we were younger, none of us had a single clue of how we could willingly tap into it, as though to use the Light of Digivolution at our own call.

Opening my eyes, I notice Kari and Tai and both doing the same with their own Digivices, as Yolei and Iori are observing in shock towards where Angemon was standing. Or, rather, would've been standing, as now, without having said a word, Angemon had Digivolved back into MagnaAngemon, as I realize upon looking back at him with a small smile, as he glances down at me and nods a bit.

"You're doing good with practice on your end, T.K." MagnaAngemon tells me, quietly, in case any Knightmon were still around, although as I look around to notice something, I see that Gatomon hasn't Digivolved just yet, even with Kari's praying.

"Don't worry about me right now, T.K.. Kari's just making sure I'm in a good enough condition to fight." Gatomon tells me, but something about her tone sounds… rather dishonest. Tai raised an eye in response, but Kari didn't even budge. In fact, she looked practically radiant with how she glows when praying with her Digivice. Almost as if-

"Oh boy, Davis won't like his would be rescuer if he keeps up that gaze at his crush."

I hear someone whisper; it sounded like Yolei. Davis, having a crush on Kari? Hmm…

"So, are you two getting ready to go?" Kari asks me, as Tai nods as he approaches where I stand besides the computer monitor in the hall.

"I'm ready when you are, T.K.. Kari won't be joining us just yet, just in case our DigiGate winds up becoming a trap for us." Tai says to me, as I nod.

"I get it, leaving Kari behind with Gatomon so that she can scout from behind while we take the full blunt of whatever that Digimon has in store for the three of us." I say to Tai, asking if that's what he intended.

"I honestly thought you'd say five of us, but that is the idea, yes." Tai speaks to me, as he holds out his Digivice to the computer screen. I proceed to do the same, as both of our Digivices glow an intense light into the screen.

"DigiGate, open!"

A blinding array of lights shine in my view, as Tai is seen beside me as is MagnaAngemon right behind me. MagnaAngemon floats ahead a little bit, as he manifests a magical barrier around myself and Tai. From my own point of view, the path to the Digital World never becomes a normal sight to me.

Imagine an array of colors from even the most strangest of natural events one could see in the entire sky of Earth at any particular part of the globe. Be it a rainbow, an aurora borealis, a sunset, anything. Now, imagine all of those colors produced by said occurrences in the sky, and imagine all of their individual colors shining in a path at once akin to a tunnel of nothing but a large void and a blinding white light at the very front of us. The colors transition from very circular, very real particles of light one could imagine, before taking the shape of oddly unnatural shapes such as squares or triangles of different varieties.

"You'll both need to be prepared for when and where we may drop; there's no guarantee of how far away from Sigma's location we might wind up. Tai, you still need to get Agumon and then come back and meet T.K. and I at a rendezvous point where we can hopefully get into Sigma's territory unnoticed." MagnaAngemon interrupts my train of thought, as I shake my head to regain my concentration on the matter at hand.

"So do you intend on trying to storm Sigma's castle at the front gates?" Tai asks me and MagnaAngemon, as I look over towards MagnaAngemon, who gives me a concerned look, as far as one could tell anyways considering his obscured eyes. However, I look towards Tai, nodding my head.

"I have an idea that'll possibly get them to lower their guard; listen carefully now, Tai..."

Unfortunately I don't even get a chance to begin to explain my plan. I had blinked for just a fraction of a second, and just like that…

Tai is suddenly nowhere to be found.

MagnaAngemon and I arrive in the Digital World, arriving in an unusual place that I would least expect to find myself at. It appears to be a small city, so to speak, lacking a vast majority of buildings, and having what appears to be a house made of a cardboard box at the main area. A few Digimon are gathered here, as MagnaAngemon and myself land and set foot on the ground. At first, everything seems innocent enough, especially with the small Digimon who casually floats up to us to greet us.

"Hello, strangers. I am a Yuramon, and you two have just stepped foot into the center of File City." Yuramon introduces, as I can hear MagnaAngemon gasp as I look in his direction and-

… Oh dear. File City. I should've known immediately that we are now on File Island, not just because of the fabled Infinity Mountain standing tall before us just up ahead. That would be normal, if anything else.

It appears there is a gigantic, floating landmass made of pure white crystal floating just next to Infinity Mountain. Atop this landmass appears to be a gigantic palace made of nothing but crystal.

"… Uh… Yuramon… my partner and I have been here before, but neither of us have ever seen that there before..." I bring up to Yuramon, practically speechless as both MagnaAngemon and I can't seem to agree on that before I can't help but feel the need to grovel like an idiot before the magnificent beauty of the castle.

"That, is the Castle of the Royal Knights. You'd better not stare at it for too long. Here, let me help you." A voice speaks, and as for what happens next, MagnaAngemon passes out on the ground with a loud crashing noise against the back of his head. Before I even knew what hit him, I myself would be knocked out, as I fall to the ground, barely conscious, wondering what had attacked us. I can briefly hear a name, but I can't think of anything else right now other than that name alone.

"Jijimon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So no alternate POV with this chapter like the previous ones. I decided against it since it would've basically amounted to Izzy just explaining to Yolei and Cody what T.K. already did in the narration prior to such a scene. That and I kind of want to have some people guessing as to what I have in mind for Tai, Davis, and Kari right now considering the little twist I decided to pull here.


	5. Chapter 4: Chaos Lost, Divinity Descent

By the time I wake up, I realize that my head feels as though it had been struck with a sturdy pole, and that there was an aching pain on the back of my head as I reach around to feel how bad it hurts. It hurts, a lot. I quickly look around, as I see MagnaAngemon surprisingly still in his current form.

"Your Digivice. It is a strange one, but then again, your partner Digimon makes it no less strange from anyone else's. Curious to see you would be partnered with a Digimon with such an immense amount of potential." A voice speaks out, sounding very old in tone and overall sound, and appearing to have an odd accent to it. I look towards the source of the voice in question, and appears there stands a very small, heavily deformed humanoid Digimon covered in a rag and being heavily covered in silver hair from head to toe. By his side is a large pole with a claw attached to it, resembling one of the gloves that Gatomon appears to wear perpetually.

"U-Um… I hate to ask, but mind I ask why you had knocked us out for no reason?" I ask, as MagnaAngemon slowly moves to stand slightly, mostly resting his right arm on his right knee. I look towards the strange, furry Digimon, to see why it could possibly be keeping us here.

"Relax, you weren't knocked out for any longer than a minute. I just had to drag you inside since my city is unknown to everyone else in the world, period. Not unless I allow anyone in, of course." The Digimon speaks, as he looks over towards me as I look rather confused.

"How old are you, anyways? You sound like you've been around for as long as-"

"I'm older than this version of the Digital World itself; I've existed long before the original DigiDestined who tried to defeat the Dark Masters, only to have to seal them away. I've existed long before Gennai, long before the Royal Knights, and long before any other possible faction you could think of. I'm even older than the late Apocalymon." The Digimon speaks, before letting out a hearty chuckle of sorts. I watch as the Digimon moves to look outside of the cardboard house we appear to be in, as MagnaAngemon looks over to me, raising his hand to gesture for me to remain still.

"I had watched as but an observer to the whole ordeal in this small city I call home. My own power is strong, stronger than any one of your own age could ever imagine. All I ever do with this power, however, is simply isolate my city from the rest of the world. I am never discovered by accident by anyone else; to them, I never exist, nor does this city. Only unless..." The Digimon speaks, before moving to question me and MagnaAngemon as he turns around.

"… Unless you specifically allow anyone or thing to enter this city and discover your existence. If you don't allow it, this entire location as well as you mean nothing to the rest of the Digital World." I ask the strange Digimon, as he lets out a hearty laugh.

"Precisely, my boy! For that matter, you're probably wondering who I am. Where are my manners, my dear boy? I am a reclusive Digimon known simply by Jijimon. My Level is irrelevant, but if you want a precise answer, I am what you and others your age refers to as a 'Mega Level'." Jijimon introduces, as I look at him rather shocked, as MagnaAngemon backs up a bit; I look at my partner's actions, only causing my eyes to widen. MagnaAngemon wouldn't so easily back away from any Digimon confronting him, not even our own friends!

"Now then," Jijimon asks the two of us, as he alters the entire surroundings with a wave of a hand, as the three of us wind up in an arena made entirely out of a wire-mesh frame. MagnaAngemon moves to stand, as now he doesn't need to crouch, as he looks towards Jijimon. Jijimon, stomping the pole in his hands into the ground, buries the Gatomon claw-covered end into the ground out of view.

"I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me as hard as you can." Jijimon asks us, as I look around, as I realize why I'm even here to begin with.

"Look, Jijimon, I don't know what you have in mind, but if you're associated with this Sigma entity than-"

"That is irrelevant to this situation. You need to learn to begin to forge your own path to glory, not rely on what the elders you know have taught you alone." Jijimon interrupts, as I shoot him a glare.

"But I'm needed to rescue a friend of mine from Sigma lest he-" Jijimon slams his pole into the ground multiple times to keep me quiet, preventing me from getting a word in.

"Curious… You don't even know him, and yet you call him a friend? I'm actually quite impressed… but is it possible for you to back this claim…?" Jijimon asks me, as I try to respond; words are formed in my mind, but every time I try and speak, nothing escapes my mouth. I calm down once I realize that I can't get a word in, even without interruptions occurring. He's right; I don't even know Davis yet, and already I'm referring to him as a friend?

No, no, no! Stop letting this Digimon play you for a fool, Takeru! Clearly he's working for Sigma and trying to just distract you from your mission!

"So you don't know the answer? Hmmm… I guess I made my judgment about you too soon then, young Ishida."

'Young Ishida?' Did this Digimon seriously not know of… Oh… Oh no… Does he not know of the fact d-dad and m-m-mom had…

"Takeru! Calm down! You're beginning to lose control…!" MagnaAngemon begins to speak, as I suddenly experience an odd pain in my mind, an odd ringing occurring in my mind. I look over towards MagnaAngemon, as his white and violet coloration begins to shift in color, as MagnaAngemon lets loose a loud scream of pain and terror.

* * *

_Takeru passes out right besides MagnaAngemon, as Jijimon merely gazes upon the situation as a whole. MagaAngemon looks as though half of his white wings have shed in favor of black wings, as MagnaAngemon's helmet begins to violently crack away and reveal a cyan eyed, blond haired face underneath as MagnaAngemon's armor breaks apart as raw, robust musculature takes over his torso, arms, and legs, leading him to stand even taller than Jijimon. "MagnaAngemon" gives out a rather psychotic laugh, as he moves to strike Jijimon with his bare hands, now in the form of claws, all the while letting loose a howling, maniacal laughter._

_Whatever form MagnaAngemon had become, he now is violently trying to crush Jijimon underneath his claws, but something prevents him from being able to make physical contact. Jijimon, meanwhile, waves his hand as magic circles begin to form around MagnaAngemon's limbs and begin to hold him back to restrain him._

_"Now then, if you don't mind me doing you a favor here… Let's see, what did that crazed woman call it? Soul Digitalization?" Jijimon asks, as he snaps his fingers as a powerful beam of energy manifests in the air in front of him, before firing directly into MagnaAngemon's chest; the enlarged form of him rapidly burns away, screaming out in a terrifying roar as it violently sheds out of MagnaAngemon's form. Underneath the form of a corrupted angel, Angemon appears, heavily exhausted, as he looks behind him and sees his own former form crying out with a powerful scream in fury and wrath towards Angemon, as Angemon backs away at the form._

_The form taking the shape of a large, humanoid Digimon with leathery wings and devilish horns on it's head._

_"Oi, Angemon, perhaps you could do the honors of finishing off your dark half for me?" Jijimon asks, as Angemon doesn't even need to nod or speak, as a powerful, fiery light forms in his hand. Angemon moves back, preparing himself for a full swing forward with his fist. Suddenly lunging with his hand curled into a mighty fist, he moves to suddenly charge forward and propel himself in a massive beam of light, crashing into his darker form as he destroys it down to the very last spec of darkness trying to take form. Angemon, heavily panting a little bit, moves over towards T.K. to see if he's alright._

_"Takeru!" Angemon speaks, as he moves to approach him, all the while De-Digivolving back into a small form, now back as Patamon as he flies up to T.K.'s head, shooting a glare at Jijimon._

_"What did you do to him? What did you make me do?!" Patamon asks Jijimon, as Jijimon moves to pull his pole out of the ground, before moving over towards T.K., as he lays a hand on T.K.'s head as a bright light surges from it and begins to heal T.K.'s head injury sustained from earlier._

* * *

W-What even happened…? What the heck happened?! I felt like the entire world around me just suddenly stopped and then… all of these bizarre entities, just gathering around me, and then… poof. Here I am, standing right now, back to where I was before, as though nothing had happened, except for MagnaAngemon having De-Digivolved back to Patamon.

"P-Patamon… What happened?!" I ask, in complete and utter confusion. However, what is even more confusing, on the other hand, is the fact we're no longer in the strange house at the base of Infinity Mountain.

Now, however, we were standing right outside the crystalline castle floating right beside Infinity Mountain. I look down towards the base of the mountain, where the strange city should've been at.

Nothing is there. What would that strange, old Digimon want with me as to drag me there to begin with? That's besides the point now, however; right now I need to work on figuring out how to infiltrate the castle, as Davis must be inside still being held captive.

"T.K., might be best for you to pray so we can get me back up to Ultimate Level. I can't Warp Digivolve right now, and if we go in right now..."

"… We're sitting ducks, got it." I reply, as I move to grab my Digivice. My eyes open wide, however, when I realize that the whole shape of it has completely changed. It used to be a near perfectly symmetrical, hexagonal shape, but now it was in the shape of an oval with a green armored padding to the sides of it.

"Patamon… I don't know what just happened… But do you remember anything about an old man at the base of Infinity Mountain…?" I ask, hoping he would at least recall what had happened.

"Um… T.K.? What old man? I don't recall ever having met anyone down there today." Patamon answers me, as I look down towards my Digivice, as I move to grasp it towards my chest; I take a deep breath, hoping to get it off of my mind.

A strange incident, that encounter was, but it feels like only seconds in which my praying gives Patamon enough energy to become MagnaAngemon again. However, something is… off. Something feels like it's overflowing with more energy than normal. I look towards Patamon, as I gaze up in awe at his now 25 foot tall form. A blue and silver armored angel with ten, golden wings, as my partner looks down at me as I look upon him in wonder.

"Who are you? Are you…?"

"Mega Level? That is correct, Takeru. I am Seraphimon, the final evolution of Patamon. I am sending you this message through your partner as a test of your newfound Digivice I had given you." Seraphimon answers to me, as I look down at my Digivice, then back up at him.

"Seraphimon… What is the meaning of this? What test are you putting me and my partner through?" I ask, as Seraphimon gazes down at me.

"I have bestowed your partner with the temporary ability to achieve Mega Level form, as I believe you will need it for you to safely make your way through this castle." Seraphimon answers.

"For what purpose other than to help me save someone I know?" I ask. A long, drawn out pause occurs between us both.

"I am testing to see if you are worthy of having your partner fulfill my soon to be former role as one of the Three Celestial Digimon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: The plot begins to thicken a little, since it appears T.K. is in over his head with this one than he initially already thought he was.


	6. Chapter 5: Challenge

“T.K. should’ve been here, but yet he isn’t.” Kari speaks, as she doesn’t seem to realize something.

I’m standing right in front of her, with Seraphimon next to me, but neither she, Gatomon, nor Tai seem to realize I’m here. Am I… corporeal, at the moment?

“We mustn’t interfere; Madam Ophanimon wishes to observe her skills.” Seraphimon speaks to me, as I look up at him; his voice, it doesn’t sound like how Patamon would speak at all.

“Is it indeed the Celestial Digimon Seraphimon themselves talking right now?” I ask, as Seraphimon looks down at me, and nods.

“Correct, Takeru; I do not wish to tread lightly on holy ground such as this palace if Ophanimon does not get the chance to witness her own potential successor as well. However...” Seraphimon states, as loud footsteps appear to be heading our way; more like, Kari and Tai’s way, as the entity appears oblivious to myself and Seraphimon besides me.

“Hey! You two! Fight me!” A mechanical lion Digimon known as LoaderLiomon roars to Kari and Gatomon, as they and Tai all flinch in slight panic at the sight of him.

* * *

“Fight me!” LoaderLiomon speaks again, as Kari takes a step back as Gatomon’s eyes twitch a bit.

“Pardon me, but we’re here to rescue our friend. We don’t have the time right now for this.” Gatomon speaks to LoaderLiomon, as the mechanical Digimon’s turbine of a mane revs up.

“Excuse me?! You will not get ahead of my in my qualification for a guard here without first facing me! Why else would you dare trespass on the domain of the Royal Knights if you didn’t intend to sign up for guard duty here?!” LoaderLiomon elaborates, as Tai and Kari look at each other.

“I’ll need Angewomon to help teleport Agumon here, but if this guy keeps refusing to get out of our way, we’ll have to deal with him first.” Tai says to Kari, as the latter nods, before looking at Gatomon.

“Gatomon? Any input for how we should handle this?” Kari asks her partner Digimon, as Gatomon looks at her from the corner of her eye.

“Shhh, I have an idea.” Gatomon whispers, as Gatomon looks up at the towering lion Digimon that is LoaderLiomon. “Pardon the intrusion then, LoaderLiomon, is it? But I believe it would be better credibility for your status as a future guard if you have an opponent who is equal ground with someone like yourself.” Gatomon speaks, as LoaderLiomon growls.

“What?! And have you Digivolve to Mega Level and kick me off of the balcony?! Do you think I would fall for that?!” LoaderLiomon insists, as he glares down at Gatomon. “You will either fight me right now, Rookie, or I will see to it that my Ultimate Level power ensures you fall off instead!” LoaderLiomon demands, as Gatomon huffs.

“Really? Do all of you guys always think about brute force alone? How do you even know Lady Sigma will let you into her ranks knowing your only quality witnessed here is taking down a Rookie Level? You’re an Ultimate Level, correct? I too can achieve Ultimate Level. Just allow me to Digivolve to Ultimate Level, and you will have much more credibility to join these knights.” Gatomon taunts, as LoaderLiomon growls as his mane revs up a bit again more fiercely.

“Why you little cu-”

Nobody could speak anything fast enough before Gatomon was soon airborne, having flipped up into the air, before fiercely slashing with her claws into LoaderLiomon’s face, shredding a good chunk of his armor off in the process, as Gatomon lands on the ground as she ignores the pain in her paws from the wound she inflicted upon LoaderLiomon’s armored face.

“Now, then, if you would be so kind as to shut it, kitten, then allow me to Digivolve so we can fight fair and square. If you won’t allow that after what I did just now, I’m going to look for a more worthy opponent elsewhere thank you very much.” Gatomon speaks, as LoaderLiomon growls a bit, as after about roughly thirty seconds pass, LoaderLiomon sits on the ground in front of the two humans and Gatomon, as Gatomon snickers a bit.

“Thank you, now then, where was I? Oh yes; Gatomon, Digivolve To…!” Gatomon speaks, as an immensely bright pillar of light engulfs her whole frame; her body glows an intense aura, as her feline-esque body transforms into that of a human-like female with eight wings shining from her back, as a helmet forms over her face as well as small, delicately placed pieces of armor covering her elsewhere. As the light fades, she stands tall enough to look LoaderLiomon in the eyes directly, as the Digivolution from Champion to Ultimate is complete.

“Angewomon!” Angewomon calls, as LoaderLiomon’s eyes widen as his pupils form into slits, his mane revving up to an intense speed, as Angewomon jumps into the air, leaping clear over LoaderLiomon and landing behind him entirely. Her left arm, positioned like aiming an unseen bow, aims forward as a spear of light forms next to it as she takes aim using her right arm.

“Celestial Arrow!” Angewomon speaks; LoaderLiomon’s attention turns to face her, as the Celestial Arrow is fired from Angewomon’s left arm as it just narrowly misses and grazes the left cheek of LoaderLiomon, before the arrow jams itself into the nearest wall, where it stays visible briefly before seemingly vanishing.

“Ha! Learn to aim better than that, Archangel!” LoaderLiomon taunts before an intense, electrical surge crosses his entire frame, as he lunges towards Angewomon, his mane spinning like no tomorrow.

“Drilling Storm!” LoaderLiomon calls, as he dives directly towards Angewomon, only for her to disappear into feathers upon impact, as the white feathering blinds LoaderLiomon’s vision briefly, but not before LoaderLiomon grabs one of the feathers in his mouth real quick.

“Big mistake, Archangel, do you have any idea of what I’m able to do with just a single feather of yours? Let’s see, how does the saying go…? Oh, right; LoaderLiomon, Mega Digivolve To…!” LoaderLiomon surges in a holy energy, a much of his machine parts covering his body shatter like glass as his entire frame reworks itself into a smaller form, but Angewomon’s gaze is fixated upon the wall just behind LoaderLiomon in the process of Digivolving to Mega Level. Holding her left arm outwards, she fires another Celestial Arrow into the wall, as she jumps up into the air, before holding her aim towards LoaderLiomon.

Emerging from the light he’s engulfed with, LoaderLiomon jumps up towards Angewomon with his newly acquired form, punching her in her exposed side with a fiery, shining fist as a black coat and hat adorn his body. “You may call me BanchoLeomon now, you idiot!” BanchoLeomon speaks, as he quickly grabs Angewomon by the neck with both hands faster than she can react, as Angewomon winces more at the injury in her side now, before BanchoLeomon causes both of them to crash down to the ground below with a tremendous force. However, while Angewomon is regaining her barrings, as BanchoLeomon raises his fists to land the finishing blow, chains of light manifest from the hidden Celestial Arrows from before, moving to form gigantic chains of light around each of BanchoLeomon’s hands, as his hands are soon forcefully spread apart as BanchoLeomon can’t appear to get out of them.

Angewomon, getting back up into the air, as she jumps backwards and aims both of her arms out, as a gigantic spear forms in both hands. Six emblems appear and manifest into spears surrounding the larger spear in Angewomon’s hands, as she launches the spear towards BanchoLeomon’s chest, ignoring the pain in her side as much as she can to land the heavy throw she’s doing to ensure a storm of spears land directly through BanchoLeomon’s chest, as BanchoLeomon’s chest is torn open almost entirely by the divine energies given physical form, as his body crashes into the nearest wall with the spear keeping him stuck there.

“Had enough?” Angewomon asks, as BanchoLeomon apparently had survived that onslaught, before Angewomon snaps her fingers as the six emblems manifest around BanchoLeomon at the wall he’s stuck on, before forging into chains of light to keep him restrained against the wall. BanchoLeomon, now pinned, calms down as he realizes he isn’t getting out of this so easily.

“For all of that effort, Angewomon, you need to know my DigiCore is indestructible. I hope you realize you will not be able to extinguish me like any other Digimon.” BanchoLeomon speaks, as Angewomon lets out a brief chuckle as she throws her hair back out of her face.

“That, was exactly what I was hoping for...” Angewomon states, as she falters a bit in her step, as her wound at her side is causing her incredible pain now, as Kari and Tai rush towards her to help her stay standing.

“Angewomon, are you alright?!” Kari asks, as Angewomon sighs a bit.

“I-I’ll be fine, I’m just lucky all of that was able to work as planned.” Angewomon speaks, as Tai looks around as he can’t help but feel like he’s being watched.

“Yeah, but, er, with that wound and all, we should probably get Agumon here as quickly as we can before anyone inside the castle decides to jump us.” Tai asks, as Angewomon looks at Tai and nods.

“Alright, sorry for taking so long...” Angewomon speaks, as manifest a pillar of light in front of her, a portal opens up as Agumon walks out of it looking all confused.

“I should’ve known that Sigma would’ve had a castle, but I’m even more surprised I couldn’t see it from down below.” Agumon speaks, as Tai looks around, as he realizes T.K. is still missing.

“Hey guys!” T.K. calls out, as he realizes now that he’s visible now in this whole scene, as Tai and Kari look over towards T.K…. and at Seraphimon right next to him, visibly gasping at Patamon’s Mega Level form.

“It’s him...” Agumon speaks, as Angewomon looks towards Seraphimon in awe.

“Here I figured this would’ve taken longer...” Angewomon speaks, before Seraphimon waves a hand towards her, and heals up the injury aching at Angewomon’s side, as she sighs in relief.

“This form won’t last very long while I am borrowing your friend’s physical form for the time being. I am Seraphimon of the Celestial Digimon.” Seraphimon introduces, as Tai and Kari’s eyes widen, as they both look at T.K..

“It’s… a long story, about how this happened...” T.K. states, as Kari and Tai nod and take his word for it.

“Good, now then, if all of that is settled, we should hurry on inside and find Davis!” Tai speaks, as T.K. and Kari nod. All three, with their respective Digimon, make their way inside the castle. Once they’re out of sight, BanchoLeomon stirs a bit after having briefly slipped unconscious in hopes they would leave him be for the benefit of his wounded pride.

“Oh, believe me, you’ll be grateful for their interference later on.” A voice speaks out towards BanchoLeomon, as BanchoLeomon looks around, as he’s stunned when a Digimon begins to make itself known before him; a serpentine dragon with swords all across it’s form taking shape.

“I am Ambassador Ouryumon, the very Sword of Lady Sigma itself.” Ouryumon introduces, as BanchoLeomon’s eyes widen.

“Forgive me for my delayed introduction, but I sincerely wanted to see how long you’d last against a superior opponent. Now that you’re here, though… I would like to speak with you in regards to these Analogs that we’ve begun to hire Digimon as guards for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: BanchoLeomon's clawed Angewomon's side in all versions of the script for this chapter, but only a few drafts actually elaborated on how bad the wound is. In all of the versions, either implied or flat out stated, the wound was bleeding, but considering I haven't come to the decision on how I want to handle Digimon biology before getting to the introduction of the namesake Analog the story is named after, I kept it up to interpretation what the wound looks like in the final draft. However, it was indeed a severe wound to the point it caused Angewomon to stop kidding around at that point and lead to the "killing" blow to BanchoLeomon.
> 
> Also, why is BanchoLeomon still alive after all of that? It's a bit of an in-joke of mine regarding how I handle lion based Digimon in my works. However, this time around I don't think anyone will be laughing when it comes to the ultimate result of this particular Leomon's role in the plot once I get to introducing his counterpart from a certain faction...)


	7. Chapter 6: D-Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: You have a good taste in Digimon games if you get the reference in this chapter's title. Also once you get to the later part of this chapter, I kind of imagine the track "I Won't Back Down" from the Burn Halo album Up From The Ashes playing.)

"It appears the specifications I had opted for had an unusual effect on him." The noblewoman's voice couldn't be any more clear with Lady Sigma in an isolated room, in a white, empty void, surrounded by floating computer screens surrounding her. A total of eleven of these holographic monitors, each encircling her in complete harmony with each other, displaying an unusual symbol with the accompanying word from which Lady Sigma understood precisely their meaning.

<<Courage>>  
<<Friendship>>  
<<Love>>  
<<Knowledge>>  
<<Sincerity>>  
<<Reliability>>  
<<Hope>>  
<<Light>>  
<<Miracles>>  
<<Destiny>>  
<<Kindness>>

"You had all left me with no choice all of those centuries ago. You disgraceful, ignorant Analogs..." Sigma speaks, in a subdued, quiet tone, pointing with a single hand as she motions, slowly, carefully, and alluringly, for two of the monitors to come before her, aglow on a bright orange and blue coloration. "To wield so, much, power... You sided with them for a reason; I need to know why..." Sigma whispers, to an audience of no one, in the whole quietness the small sanctuary of a room had offered her. Why couldn't she understand? Something was amiss; she needed to know what it was. Yet, at the same time, such knowledge was forbidden for even her, as she just stares longingly into the two screens floating within her grasp, as they move to overlap on their own in her hand.

"Lady Sigma; we have a situation on the lower floor at the brig." A voice, sounding shrill in tone, screeching, but distinctly masculine, in tone towards Lady Sigma through a communicator.

"... Humans?"

"Not that they're not presently entering, but they're not why I've called. Some of the Knightmon are fighting, all demanding an answer regarding the former."

"Then why not have them speak their grievances to me personally if they refuse to understand my orders to allow the humans to retrieve their friend, so that I may confront their leader unopposed by my own ranks?!" Sigma speaks, as a second voice makes itself known, clearing through throat as a misty breath emerges from their seldom seen mouth, now hidden from view.

"... You have something to say, Dynasmon?" Sigma prompts, turning her gaze to the source of the second voice.

"Apologies, madam, but what should I do regarding the prisoner's escape?"

"Do whatever you must to keep the stronger units from going at them, but I swear upon our corrupted 'King', do not make it look any more staged than it already is."

"Yes, madam."

Both voices, at the same time, disappear from the audio being communicated from other rooms in the castle. Lady Sigma, back to being on her own, as she dismisses the screens circling around her, as she uses them to highlight a terminal in the wall in front of her. Each step she takes, a powerful force is subdued with each step of grace she makes towards the terminal. Stepping up to it and activating it, the individual screens all take physical form across eleven other terminals that emerge from the ground around her, each taking the form of a DigiEgg type of appearance, adorned with the symbol from which they're imbued, as she snaps with her fingers for three of them, glowing orange, green, and purple, to manifest before her all at once.

"I now beg these persons as the ones to draw power from courage, sincerity, and knowledge within…" Lady Sigma chants, as she draws forth an incredible power from within herself as the entire room around her trembles, as her hands glow an immense, green aurora that begins to engulf her whole being. Even those outside of the room could feel the immense power being awoken here all at once with these individual objects before her.

"... Oh, the Light of Digivolution, may you provide eternal power to your loyal subjects!" Lady Sigma finishes, before suddenly casting out the three objects from the room with an immense force.

* * *

One of them heads straight towards the lower floors, completely bypassing Tai's group, the infighting guards, directly presenting itself out into the open towards a startled Davis and Veemon.

"Whoa... What is this?" Davis asks, as Veemon looks upon it with awe, as the object glows a bright, orange light onto Veemon, as it breaks apart and reveals a newly forged Digivice from within for Davis, as Davis grabs hold of it quickly, without even realizing what he now has. Veemon glows with a powerful surge of fiery light.

"Veemon, Armor Digivolve to...!" Veemon calls, as a glowing aura surrounding him forges itself an armored form based upon the flame patterned, spiked DigiEgg equipping itself to Veemon like literal armor, as Veemon's body grows to match the proportions the armor is best suited for underneath, as he lets out a growl, his lisp completely fading into a hardened, refined voice of an mature, masculine individual.

"Flamedramon, the Fire of Courage!" Flamedramon announces, as a bright light manifests from his chest, as he looks around as the keys he had held previously are now unlocking the numerous other jail cells in the vicinity of this massive lower chamber of the castle.

"Heed my advice, Flamedramon; your freedom, along with the life of your partner, will not be simply granted by my meeting with his senior alone. I must witness how capable you are under these restrictions, to see for myself as to whether or not you will be strong enough to fend off attackers from which you may not normally even face. After all, assuming negotiations go well, I may step out of your way in the end, but another force stands before you elsewhere in your native version of our overall world; another server, another universe, it does not matter to me anymore. What matters is this; are you capable of fighting to the bitter end to protect those in need of shelter from an opposing force, no matter the world?" Lady Sigma's voice could be heard across the whole room, from which Davis and Flamedramon look on, and see a figure approaching from the shadow.

"Vermilimon will serve as your adversary this time; make every hit count; fight for your freedom!"

"Not a sweat, darling~, I will make short work of this one along with the rest..." Flamedramon boasts to Lady Sigma, as Vermilimon chuckles a bit.

"Care to increase your wager, because I am very much in the mood for amusement myself. I will not only see to your negotiation out of here, but I will owe you one favor... shall we, perhaps, amplify the challenge to 100 or bust?" Lady Sigma asks, as the lights in the dungeon all kick on, as exactly 99 more Vermilimon suddenly are visible surrounding Davis and Flamedramon, but neither of the two back down.

"I won't back down from my chance to prove to everyone I'm just as worthy as Tai is of wielding the bond of courage! Let's hit em hard, Flamedramon!" Davis shouts, as Flamedramon yells out in laughter.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Flamedramon shouts as a battle cry, before charging head forward towards the 100 Vermilimon charging towards him with equally an intense desire to fight for their freedom.

Flamedramon, as the much more agile of the two main Digimon types in the room, is the first to get a hit in, producing a fiery shield before itself as a Vermilimon crashes head first into him, only for Flamedramon to flip, and then uppercut upwards with the sharp horn in his head in a fiery spike manifesting from his form. Grabbing a hold of the dinosaur Digimon's tail, Flamedramon hurls the Vermilimon into 7 others charging directly at him, causing the 8 of them to form a pile over each other. Flamedramon, charging both of his fists together, spirals downwards as he strikes the whole pile of Vermilimon with a fiery wave of energy blasting outwards, sending the Vermilimon flying out of range, collapsing into the nearest wall in defeat. 92 left, this would be a long fight. Most ordinary Digimon would've perished to those initial 8 alone.

Flamedramon was not an ordinary Digimon.

Flamedramon charges with his fists a powerful, fiery energy forming in his hands, as he fires a spiral of flames towards another 2 Vermilimon acting as a shield towards a bunch of others just behind them, charging an intense energy to block Flamedramon's attack. However, Flamedramon saw this, jumping high into the air, and practically flying towards them and then thrusting upwards to launch them into the air with his head's horn, and then punching both of them across the horizon to the wall, one of them crashing into the door of the dungeon to the higher floor.

"What the heck is going on down he- BY THE ETERNAL TREE WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?!?!" Crusadermon asks as she is holding back several Knightmon from getting into the room, witnessing Flamedramon demolishing through at least 14 Vermilimon by this point, with a 15th being launched into the air, incidentally towards a terminal which is crushed upon impact, as the Vermilimon collapses, as an electrical surge moves from the terminal towards the door of an even larger holding cell than any of the other Digimon currently in the room.

"You fool! You've unleashed the Beast!" One of the Knightmon hollers from behind Crusadermon, as the group falls over forward once Crusadermon charges forward, before Flamedramon throws a whole volley of Vermilimon her way, as she charges an intense energy in her massive armored lower arm, as she punches the volley head on, shattering them like glass from what were originally 8 Vermilimon in their place. Down to 70 Vermilimon, and judging by the defeated bodies stacking up just beside the large doors that were slowly opening, 20 of them had been defeated in the span for Crusadermon to begin to take action, making the current count to no more than 50 Vermilimon. Dynasmon teleports into the lower facility as he and Crusadermon stand towards the large cell doors opening up, as a mighty, pale colored Digimon with heavily reinforced, navy blue armor and an oddly headless torso exits the cell, with it's shoulders opening up like massive jaws.

"Well, Dynasmon, I believe without us even realizing it, you now have your chance to atomize your eternal foe. Will you take it?" Crusadermon asks, oddly surprised at the lack of any kind of head on the Digimon's body, as Dynasmon chuckles a bit.

"Thankfully his Digicore is stored within his head I have relocated elsewhere, but Lady Sigma wouldn't believe me when I said I could finish the job with his still living, separate body." Dynasmon speaks, as Crusadermon keeps an eye on the Vermilimon bodies being tossed across the room, as Crusadermon quickly keeps count; 25 and counting, and Flamedramon isn't even breaking a sweat, as she looks back towards Dynasmon, who is confused by what's going on with Davis and Flamedramon fighting the other prisoners.

"Uh... Should I do anything about those two?" Dynasmon asks, as Crusadermon shakes her head.

"Ignore them per our Lady's orders, focus your efforts on the Beast. I am hoping to finally disprove your audacious claims about your abilities here and now." Crusadermon orders to Dynasmon, as Dynasmon's mouth unveils itself from his horned, helmeted head, as a powerful mist erupts from his mouth with an explosive force towards the headless Beast.

"Disprove this! Wyvern's Breath!!!" Dynasmon shouts, as a powerful, incredibly massive dragon made of pure energy emerges from Dynasmon's mouth, as two of the Vermilimon have not paid attention to Flamedramon to comment.

"Well, I'd really hate to be that guy right now."

"I know, right? Can't believe Dynasmon is attempting to slay none other than BelialM-"

Flamedramon doesn't even allow both of them to finish, as he grabs both of them and holds them over his shoulders. "Hate to interrupt, but you're the only two left and I have something special in mind for you to." Flamedramon comments, as he takes aim and focuses on Crusadermon and Dynasmon from the back of their respective helmets.

The dragon of mists doesn't even entertain the idea of whatever strength this Beast has; it simply charges through it, completely disintegrating it at a slow pace due to the power inherent to both opposing forces, as the draconic energy incarnate doesn't even leave a trace of the Beast or itself in the end, as it disappears without warning, as Crusadermon chuckles.

"Well, that'll be a wonderful entry in our Lady's logbo-"

A strike directly to the back of Crusadermon's head with Vermilimon's sturdy as diamond hide at full force knocks her over and onto the ground, in a heap with the one Vermilimon launched at her, as Dynasmon looks towards Davis and Flamedramon, as he catches the Vermilimon thrown towards him faster than either could react.

"99." Dynasmon speaks, simply, as Flamedramon and Davis look to the side to see a lone Vermilimon standing idle in hopes it would be given a free pass by everyone else in the room who isn't currently in a literal heap right now.

"Make that 100, I want this one to leave in peace. Besides, I already knocked out an 100th anyways with Crusadermon over there, and the Vermilimon she took out by proxy are now part of my score." Flamedramon corrects Dynasmon, as Dynasmon simply looks over the whole situation.

"Alright, I'll take that any day of the week as an answer. Best you two follow me, the Knightmon upstairs are getting anxious over Sigma's plans thinking something is wrong due to being left out of the loop. It'll be easier if I escort you upstairs out of the way." Dynasmon speaks to Davis and Flamedramon.

"I kind of wish I knew what to say; all of this happened so fast and yet it felt like an eternity in here." Davis speaks, as Dynasmon raises an eye, as he points towards the Digivice in Davis' hands now.

"That, for one, is a Digivice, and as you can tell with this immense pile of KOs you scored with your own spirit invoking power upon Flamedramon, you are now a DigiDestined, as they're called these days. Though, most importantly, I think we should take it slow on the way back up, it'll buy Lady Sigma some time for her to settle the so called 'negotiations' she claims..." Dynasmon speaks, with a bit of a groan at the end, as Dynasmon leads the duo upstairs, as Flamedramon looks down towards his side to look directly at Davis.

"So, how did you know how to initiate my Digivolution without saying a word?" Flamedramon asks, curious, as Davis shrugs a bit.

"I dunno... something about this... about all of this... seems to be coming like second nature to me... I feel like as though that this situation is new to me, that I must've lived through such an experience like this before even if I can't recall it... question is, though, how do I have this second nature-like memory of me becoming a DigiDestined?"

"That is a question we will all eventually get an answer to, some day or another."


	8. Chapter 7: Critical Situation

Not even a few steps into the front door and already it feels like we're all being watched.

"T.K., something doesn't feel right." Angewomon asks, as she looks towards Tai and Agumon approaching the central chamber of the hall in the castle.

"Agumon, Warp Digivolve to...!" Agumon shouts in an array of light that shines upon, as he Warp Digivolves into the Mega Level we all know him nowadays as.

"WaaarGreymon!!!" WarGreymon announces, upon manifesting from the fiery inferno encircling him, as large, extended claws emerge from armored gauntlets attached to his arms.

I look towards Seraphimon, noticing that something does seem off, in regards to why Angewomon had called my attention.

"Takeru, I feel something... We're not alone in this room..." Seraphimon speaks, as one door opens towards the back of the hall, as Dynasmon, with Crusadermon carried over his shoulder, and Davis and some other Digimon walks out. The door closes behind them, then the one behind us closes with a tremendous noise, as an panel lowers itself to the ground at an immense speed as Lady Sigma appears directly on it. Without her even saying a word, we're already surrounded. Knightmon appear in dozens all across the castle floors surrounding us, as various Digimon, all strikingly having the appearance not entirely different from Angemon's own, as every one of us that I can see before us looks towards these Holy Digimon in nothing but shock.

This despot of a Digimon; having Holy Digimon like these working for her? What was this world coming to?!

"It is amusing that you have come all of this way out to face me so soon after you had failed to deliver unto me what I had hoped you and the Garurumon both share as a secret from everyone else. I had hoped that, perhaps out of some form of vague familiarity with myself, that I would strike a nerve; to get you to lash out at me unprovoked; hoping some semblance of _**them**_ would awaken to the surface." Lady Sigma speaks, aloud to everyone in the room, as various unknown Digimon appear as individual, distinct forms surrounding us.

"T.K., don't have Seraphimon try anything; this stranger is only interested in me and Matt specifically, and I have a feeling I already know why... I just wish Matt had a chance to show up on time without worrying too much over Sora's wellbeing." Tai speaks up towards me and Kari, as he hides his face from view, as I don't understand quite what he's implying. I heard my brother and Sora were dating for at least a year by now, and I was informed Tai was supportive of the two. Then it dawned upon me, as the memories begin to flash back into my mind.

A Diabolical Digimon had cornered everyone in one intense struggle two years ago; the Y2K Bug as those who were not DigiDestined referred to the incident as. This creature was the very instigator of what was called the "Children's War Game", but some have called it more appropriately as "Our War Game", since everyone, and I mean everyone, was at stake against this creep's insane bout for power. It was only due to the intervention of Omegamon that any hope of slaying this monstrosity was shown, and even then, Izzy had to improvise about another situation going on during then to allow Omegamon to slay it without Diablomon's sheer speed causing it to stall for time for the warhead to have gone off.

All of us, for those ten seconds, saw everything we all knew about this world slowly reaching death's door, but Omegamon had impaled the demon through the skull to strike it down and vanquish it from this world or any other.

How wrong we all were, though, in that this was it's end. For it's data had dispersed, and now I understand where all of it went. All of these unknown Mega Levels, making their stand against us; they originated from his data, and almost exclusively his alone.

I was told that way from a theory, Izzy had told me once I was old enough to understand to begin intense training with Patamon.

Before I even knew what I was thinking about again, the sound of an intense explosion hits the room, as Seraphimon and Angewomon were both seen charging energy towards someone, most likely WarGreymon, before them, only for everyone in the room to be knocked back by an intense shockwave into the nearest wall.

* * *

"Are you referring to that deserter? I do hope you realize that the D-Brigade are not under my own control; they are forged solely outside of our own command." Lady Sigma speaks, as WarGreymon charges forward, colliding his right arm's Dramon Destroyer to strike against Lady Sigma's armor, not even causing her to budge in the process.

"She nearly died that day, and we were lucky that some of her relatives survived because that idiot wasn't smart enough to figure out-"

"That her father's surname is not his own, and that her own surname was solely from her mother's side? Honestly, to be blunt, anybody too willing to put human family before being a DigiDestined... Well, I can't say anything other than they deserve whatever fate awaits them, especially if the D-Brigade were to go after them under such a reason." Lady Sigma spoke, without so much as even mincing her words with the victim blaming towards Sora, as WarGreymon looks towards Angewomon.

"Give me a boost!" WarGreymon calls, as Angewomon begins to channel an intense light into WarGreymon directly, as Seraphimon, as if on cue, decided to do the same if merely because T.K. was lost in thought at the moment.

"Angewomon I feel like something is not right with this ordeal..." Seraphimon speaks, as Angewomon looks at him.

"Perhaps you should amplify WarGreymon even further if you really feel that uneasy about making a move without T.K.'s input... not saying that to be rude, but we're already vastly outnumbered and you've literally only just now been able to become Mega Level and-" Angewomon's desperation in her voice was beginning to crack; she was uncharacteristically unsettled by the Digimon surrounding the DigiDestined here; something, or someone, was bothering her here, and Seraphimon couldn't understand why. Now, however, was not the time to ask, as WarGreymon was attempting to strike at Lady Sigma with his left hand reaching away to prepare a stronger punch. Seraphimon, realizing WarGreymon's determination, forces a massive influx of power within WarGreymon's hand to cause him to generate enough energy to use one of his attacks using that hand alone.

"Terra Force...!" WarGreymon speaks, as he charges a spherical, flaming energy in his hand, as he strikes Lady Sigma directly in her chest with the Dramon Destroyer on his arm piercing her armor directly, and his whole hand now caught in her armor.

"... Something is going on in your head, isn't it, now...?" Lady Sigma speaks, as her eyes widen as WarGreymon growls in an uncharacteristic tone, as an eerie manifestion appears around his left arm, giving it the impression of a force equal to tenfold his whole form overtaking his left arm, as Lady Sigma's eyes widen towards it.

"Continue to speak... I must hear their voice for myself...!" Lady Sigma speaks to WarGreymon, as WarGreymon's eyes glow a shining gold.

**_"Gladly! Transcendent Force!!!"_ **

Within seconds, an intense explosion overtakes the main room in the castle, as WarGreymon doesn't even so much as budge when the explosion hits, as Angewomon, Seraphimon, each DigiDestined currently present, as Dynasmon prevents himself, Davis, and Flamedramon from being blown away. An even larger Digimon positions it's gigantic shield forward, clearing the smoke of the explosion faster by forcing all of it to be absorbed into the shield. The skull helmeted Digimon looks forward, in disbelief, as all of the other Digimon in the room are shocked at what they see.

Lady Sigma, blasted to smithereens, with only a good chunk of her upper body and head intact, with her Digicore cracked but otherwise slowly pulsing, as WarGreymon's entire left arm having taken on a robotic look, as his own head appears to cover a massive hand from which a sword emerges from it's jaws. Davis and Flamedramon rush forward to Tai and the others, as WarGreymon De-Digivolves all the way down to Botamon from sheer exhaustion from the attack, as Angewomon De-Digivolves to Gatomon in turn. Seraphimon, however, realizes all of the Digimon currently in the room are now about to turn their attention towards them next, and does something only he knew would be necessary for them to survive.

"DigiGate, Open!" Seraphimon calls, as a portal engulfs each of the DigiDestined and their respective Digimon and teleports them back out of the castle, taking them back to the real world, as Seraphimon's image is only seldom seen as he De-Digivolves back into Patamon before being back in the real world, with Ouryumon roaring intensely in the sky at the site of Lady Sigma's severely damaged condition, as he and the wounded BanchoLeomon move to investigate her intact parts.

"She's alive, but in need of repairs that'll keep her out of the field until she can fully recover. Dynasmon! Have Duftmon prepare a counter attack against these DigiDestined at once! I want them all extinct for what they did just now!" Ouryumon speaks, intensely enraged, but BanchoLeomon grabs him by the neck to subdue him, as Dynasmon subsequently forces Ouryumon down.

"You may be Her Sword, but I will not issue an order spoken in a tongue no different from **_them_**... Especially not with _their_ target now among us like this." Dynasmon speaks, as Ouryumon's eyes widen, as BanchoLeomon snarls at him.

"More accurately, you should really just order all of your men to begin the healing machines to begin to repair Sigma with at once, lest anyone _else_ find out about what happened and realize that we are _all_ now vulnerable..." BanchoLeomon speaks, as Ouryumon nervously nods, as BanchoLeomon and Dynasmon set him down, as Dynasmon sighs a bit, as upon feeling Crusadermon slam her armored fist against his backside, sets the now conscious Crusadermon down as she is able to look around.

"With all due respect, Dynasmon, I fear that if any of us leave the castle after what I heard from Omegamon, I think everyone's attention is already now fixated on us as it is." Crusadermon points out, as Dynasmon looks between her and BanchoLeomon.

"Fine, so it's settled; we'll increase the castle defenses while we prepare for a possible hit and run by the D-Brigade. Be lucky I'm not Lady Sigma when I give this order, please." Dynasmon speaks, as Crusadermon and BanchoLeomon salute him, as the Knightmon work on salvaging data from what they could find of Lady Sigma across the whole chamber.

"Meanwhile, as I'm in temporary command it would seem, I would like to arrange an urgent meeting in private once Lady Sigma's repairs begin; I want none of us to go after those kids under any pretense, not while the D-Brigade will soon be breathing down our necks imminently." Dynasmon speaks.

* * *

Back in the real world, we were now back where we started, with the odd-looking Digimon appearing to have De-Digivolved entirely, as Tai and Agumon had already made their exit when I must've came to. Izzy, meanwhile, was more than ready to answer any questions I must've had by the time I came to.

Since whatever had happened, I found myself in the infirmary with only Kari and Izzy by my side at the moment, and me attempting to get back up only for a massive pain to sting in my arms and back that force me back to the bed.

"Easy, easy! Don't move, just, calm down and maybe try and sleep for a while... An ambulance is on the way..." Izzy's voice speaks to me, as I look towards Kari, my gaze feeling foggy.

"Relax, everyone is safe; Davis, Yolei, Cody, all back in class, safe and sound; you need to rest after what had happened to you when we got back. I'll do my best to ensure Tai is alerted as to you being in the hospital in the aftermath of this... just... please... try and get some sleep..."

What exactly did happen to me when we got back, anyways? I don't recall anything unusual happening; I just recall... hmmm... that's odd...

I can't seem to recall anything at this time... then again... I... I feel weird... kind of... s-sleepy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I saw three possible outcomes; I chose the fifth to how I handled this whole chapter.


	9. Chapter 8: Changing of the Guard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I wanted to post this chapter and the next as the same chapter, but I feel like this chapter by itself would work as a sort of breather episode, so I separated the two considering what I know will be in what would've been the second half of this chapter. Also want to give a shout-out to [Ayhelenk](https://www.deviantart.com/ayhelenk) of DeviantArt for thanks for allowing me permission for a scene they drew for someone else as something I could use for inspiration later in this fic for the layout of a particular scene I have in mind.

Tai, Matt, and Izzy had all managed to negotiate with their teachers for today, as because of that, now all three are in the waiting room of the hospital. About an hour had passed since T.K. had passed out asleep after Izzy and Kari were the last to see him awake, as Tai is sweating a little in the heat of the room. Izzy, meanwhile, is deep in thought, as Matt is looking towards the other two with his fingers intertwined with his hands.

"This is my fault for not being there when that bitch-"

"Language!" Izzy scolds Matt, as Matt sighs.

"... Fine, when that wench had captured Daisuke and had lead to Tai and Agumon blasting apart this Royal Knight into nothing but pieces." Matt speaks, correcting himself upon Izzy's complaint, which Izzy raises an eye at.

"Look, Matt, I understand you're mad about this whole situation, but these Royal Knights aren't affiliated with Sealsdramon." Izzy points out, as Tai narrows his eyes a bit.

"How could you say that when Sigma actually knows about the situation? Also, it's Tankdramon last I checked, not that it matters now considering WarGreymon tore him to shreds... again..." Tai speaks, as he looks towards Izzy's laptop off to the side. " I swear you're implying something, Izzy, with just keeping your laptop to the side like this." Tai asks, as Izzy looks up at him.

"I'm not implying anything, but if we are to survive against this population boom of Mega Level Digimon, we have to act and decide on a secondary leader sooner than later after how long we've been delaying the inevitable." Izzy tells him, as Matt nods.

"Agreed; it was inevitable people like Daisuke and his friends would become DigiDestined, heck, Daisuke now even has a Digivice and a Digimon of his own to prove our observations, that anyone else who sees a Digimon is all that needs to happen for them to become DigiDestined in turn. This isn't about just getting a secondary leader ready for a new group of DigiDestined, this is making sure we have more than just Tai and myself to be able to handle drastic situations like this." The blond points out, as the two brunets look towards each other.

"So, shall we vote on who should be the leader in that case?" Tai asks, as Izzy nods.

"My vote is T.K., plain and simple. Sure, he's recovering now, but Joe's relatives say he'll make a full recovery after he gets some sleep. Besides, with him having been the first out of any of us to figure out how to skip Champion and go straight to Ultimate, he's our best bet considering he's more than likely to achieve Mega Level with Patamon sooner than any of us." Izzy makes his point clear, as Tai nods.

"I agree, T.K. sounds like the best bet. What about your input, Matt? This is your brother we're referring to here, after all." Tai asks, as the blonde shakes his head.

"My vote isn't going to him; it's going to Kari, plain and simple." Matt speaks, rather harsh in his tone, as Tai's eyes widen, as he shoots him a glare after a moment.

"Matt, you're bring this up again? I thought we had discussed about this over the course of the last few summers, she isn't ready for this type of responsibility!" Tai responds, as Matt shakes his head.

"The only one who isn't ready for this is you, Tai; if Kari doesn't learn to fend for herself without having to rely on you like she's been the last 2 years since Diablomon showed up, I would've simply agreed that T.K. would lead." Matt points out, as Tai glares still. "Look, I get it, she's not right in her mind, but if you constantly have to fend off enemies for her, she'll never learn, and by the time you finally decide to stop sheltering her it'll be too late for her to become independent." Matt adds, as Tai's gaze softens a tad. The blonde, looking towards the door to the hall where T.K. was taken through, sighs a bit as he looks towards Tai and Izzy both eyeing him intently.

"Besides, do not think for a moment that she won't at the very least be slowly weaned into it; if you don't mind, I recommend we have Sora get in touch with Kari to talk to her about this to the side to help prepare her for such a role. However, if you're still unconvinced of my warning, then fine; T.K. will lead until she and Sora talk things out." Matt finishes, as Tai sighs in relief as Izzy closes his eyes, subtly shaking his head a little out of the other two's view.

 _'Nothing good will come of this decision, I swear; I understand Matt means well, but right now T.K.'s our best bet to lead Daisuke and his friends as DigiDestined. I just wish there was more I could do to speak to him about how his plan to have Kari lead would be even more disastrous than he thinks...'_ Izzy thought to himself, as he turns his attention towards the sound of flipper-like feet walking across the glossy floor of the waiting room, as a small, seal-like Digimon known as Gomamon made himself known.

"If you've come to check up on Joe as well, he's actually on a day off back at home. I'm only here to make sure his brother is safe in case Tankdramon ever decides to come back." Gomamon speaks, as Izzy nods.

"I'm glad to see you're doing your part to make sure your own training is going well." Izzy speaks, as Tai nods.

"Considering Joe's hectic schedule, I kind of have to solo train more so than the others, which as a result, allowed me to Warp Digivolve to Zudomon without Joe's input, and, who knows, perhaps when Joe has time to train with me again proper, I might even hit Mega Level soon." Gomamon speaks, as Matt looks towards him.

"Any progress with Gabumon's training? I am concerned that with the Royal Knights and this other group we've been informed of as of late, that Gabumon will need to be at the top of his game for us to make sure everyone will be safe." Matt asks, as Gomamon tilts his head a bit.

"He's been training again with Agumon ever since you got here to check on T.K.. I wish I knew what it is I could figure out regarding this Combination he and Agumon have been trying to figure out with you guys." Gomamon says, as Tai and Matt nod.

"It's a process we ourselves are trying to figure out as well, but please, in case neither of us get the chance, tell Agumon and Gabumon to get some rest after what's been going on today, we don't want them to overexert themselves without us." Tai asks, gently, as Gomamon nods.

"I'll be sure to let them know should you hit the sack before you message them, although speaking of which, the hospital is closing soon, so you should begin heading home now. I'll be sure to keep tabs on T.K.'s condition overnight." Gomamon brings up, as Tai, Matt, and Izzy nod, as Tai and Izzy move to leave, as Matt sticks around a bit before following the two out.

"Keep an eye on him; I've been feeling he hasn't been getting much sleep as of late from what I've been hearing from phone calls with mom." Matt asks of Gomamon, as Gomamon nods, before Matt walks out of the hospital along with Tai and Izzy.

Hopefully getting some sleep will prove good for T.K.'s health overall, considering what has been going on from what little Matt has been informed of his fatigue as of late...


	10. Chapter 9: Silent Cries

Matt was walking on his way home by himself, for the most part. He had parted ways with Tai and Izzy a while earlier as he's walking down the street at dusk, as he looks around at various signs across the district are turning off for the night, as well as there being very few other people outside right now. Matt snaps out of his train of thought, though, when a droplet of water touches the top of his black hoodie, as Matt looks up at the sky and notices the clouds forming, as rain is beginning to slowly fall.

"Shit... should've brought an umbrella had I known about it going to rain soon..." Matt remarks, as someone with an umbrella appears right beside him, as if a warm aura had crept up to him and caught him off guard with the pleasant, sweet aroma the person emanates with, as Matt looks to his side to a see a tad shorter, redheaded girl his own age smiling at him, holding an umbrella over the two of them.

"Your dad wanted me to come find you, ya know, just to make sure you weren't swearing behind his back." Sora speaks, as Matt looks at her and sighs.

"... I'll swear on this, that he's looking forward to collecting that payment once that jar fills up with enough cash any day now." Matt speaks, a tad flustered by Sora's presence, as Sora moves to lock arms with Matt as she walks down the street with him back home.

"You're lucky my dad approves of me living with you two for the time being, at least, until we can figure out a safe place that Tankdramon doesn't know about for me to stay." Sora brings up, as Sora lightly chuckles a bit, feigning a positive aura as soon her chuckling fades quickly, as she looks down a bit, hiding tears forming in her eyes.

"... It's still not fair what he did to me out of such petty spite, though..." Sora brings up, her tone quieter as she can soon feel Matt wrapping an arm around her back, his hand grasping her shoulder gently as he walks with her back home.

"Sora, there wasn't anything any of us could've done to know about this guy in advance. It's not your fault." Matt brings up, as Sora shakes her head.

"It is, though! I'm tired of feeling like you insist on that, especially when I wasn't doing anything other than being a prick to Tai when you guys and your Digimon were almost destroyed by Diablomon... If I had known you guys were in peril sooner than the day after it had went down, I... I could've easily rallied everyone else to help and then some." Sora informs Matt, as Matt closes his eyes a bit.

"Sora... this isn't your fault, you couldn't have known better especially since none of the others-"

"Kari knew, Matt; Kari had been at a birthday receiving phone calls from Tai about the situation; had I stepped in I could've gotten her to assist me with helping you guys out in that battle. Heck, I'm more than willing to bet all of the money in my savings that I could've even managed to reach out to Mimi while she was in Hawaii to help you guys!"

"Sora..."

"But all I did was just be a prick with my own hormones affecting my own judgment on things; I nearly lost Tai as a friend after what had happened back then, I would've felt horrible had he never forgiven me after that which he shouldn't have and-"

Sora's cries were silenced, though, when her teary eyes widen as to see Matt standing in front of her now, kissing her full on the lips. Sora could feel Matt's strong arms wrapping around her, holding her where they both stand right now, as Sora didn't know how to respond right away, before simply allowing herself to melt in Matt's arms as she softly cries into his shirt as Matt, carefully and gently, strokes her backside with his hand to calm her down. Hoping to have her let out all of this pent up frustration for now with this embrace, Matt doesn't say a word, allowing Sora to cry however long she needs to just to let all of this overwhelming emotion out of her system, all the while keeping her close, rubbing her backside to help calm her down, slowly. Matt had broke the kiss a moment after he had kissed her, allowing Sora to rest her head on his shoulder as he rests he continues to hold her gently like this. Sora could be heard crying, quite a bit, but Matt simply whispers something inaudible into Sora's ear, as Matt can slowly tell Sora is beginning to calm down after this long, drawn out intimate moment between the two.

"Its alright... I'm here..." Matt speaks, softly, into Sora's ear, hoping she hears him as he knows her cries are calming down quietly enough for her to be able to hear him. Sora, after a few minutes, had moved to look at Matt in the eyes, as she closes her eyes before closing the distance between their faces as she kisses him back, as Matt returns it, calmly, as the two stay still for a moment, before breaking the kiss and looking at each other.

"Is T.K. going to be alright?" Sora asks, her tears being wiped away by Matt as he places a hand on her cheek, as Matt nods.

"He'll be just fine, he just needs to get some sleep for once; he'll make a full recovery, and dad will be picking him up from the hospital in the morning as long as nothing else happens between then and now." Matt informs Sora, as Sora breathes in for a moment, before exhaling, softly, as she looks at him, nodding.

"Let's go home for the night, Matt..." Sora tells him, as Matt nods, as he moves to begin walking with her down the street towards Matt's apartment, where due to Tankdramon she had been staying there ever since his vile intent had rendered much of Sora's relatives out of commission.

In the shadows of a nearby alley, though, there appears to be a red, glowing eye piercing the darkness with a tracking laser.

_{{Sealsdramon-004 to Sergeant Tankdramon; target has been spotted, but I fail to understand why we do not act again while she is defenseless.}}_

_**{{She will not be easily vanquished after what injuries the Dramon Killer had put me through, trooper... You should be wise to learn from my mistakes, yesss... I had to deal with the Dramon Killer myself, and I will not have you or anyone else's arrogance endure what I had when I attempted several times to off her myself in vein... Rest assured, however, that with my repairs nearly finished, my body will be stronger than ever before... it is too soon to know when that'll be, but when that day arrives, we shall strike again, and this time, the Dramon Killer will be in for a surprise he will never expect...}}** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I tend not to do a lot of hypothetical casting, but with the deliciously hammy snarling of that "Yesss..." with Darkdramon's line at the end, I think it's kind of obvious for anyone who's familiar with David Kaye's Transformers resume to know why that particular wording was done. Funnily enough I don't imagine Beast Wars Megs as the voice he uses here, especially since the voice I do imagine him using for Darkdramon also did say a hammy "Yesss..." at one point and was even another Transformers related character, that being [Transformers Prime Hardshell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mJ4-3TLkSU&ab_channel=AeonTFP). Not sure why Hardshell in particular came to mind with who I imagine Darkdramon's lines sounding like in my head, but maybe it has something to do with me binge watching Transformers Prime ad nauseum for the past few months...)


	11. Chapter 10: N.So

Night in the Digital World. In an unknown version of File Island. The same version of File Island that Jijimon had brought T.K. and Patamon to earlier.

Right now, Patamon is here all by himself, as Patamon had gotten lost returning to the Digital World after having helped evacuate everyone. Even then, didn't Jijimon say that nobody could find this version of File Island unless he allowed it?

Even if he did, Patamon is flying up towards Jijimon's cardboard box of a home, and looking directly inside, Patamon doesn't see anyone inside at all. Jijimon is gone, and the numerous Baby and In-Training Digimon across File City had all disappeared as well.

As though something is here which had scared them off.

"T.K.... If only you were here right about now... This place is giving me the creeps..." Patamon mumbles, noticing as to how everything is perhaps too quiet, too isolated in this area for his own good.

Patamon knows something is watching him, but yet the feeling of isolation sting lingers strongly, as Patamon is incapable of even realizing something is watching him, even though he's aware something is at the same time.

Whatever this entity is, though, it appears... oddly dissonant, in terms of what Patamon could've been expecting otherwise. Patamon looks around the area overall, and eventually sees some sign of life in the vast, emptiness of File City.

A boy, around the same height as T.K., dressed in an odd uniform, with wild hair akin to Tai's own, albeit a bluish shade. Eyes hidden by shades he is wearing, it's difficult to tell, especially at this time of night, where he's looking. Although, that said, the glowing red his shades are right now doesn't paint any pretty pictures at all.

"A long way from home you are. What are you doing in my land?" The boy asks Patamon, eerily quiet in tone despite the distance between the two, as Patamon shudders a bit.

"I... I can't digivolve...? Why?" Patamon inquires as to why he didn't just digivolve any time now in response to a perceived threat from this boy. The boy snickers a little, though, as if knowing exactly why Patamon can't digivolve.

"You're within my territory, rodent. My territory, adorned by legions of my Dark Towers chaining down my slaves wherever they may be." The boy introduces, as large, massive obelisks forge up from the ground and begin to emit a strong, ear piercing signal of sorts, as Patamon can tell a Digimon is nearby, waiting to strike. When Patamon sees the Digimon move out into view, it looks astonishingly a lot like him, except violet with glowing red eyes.

"You may not be able to digivolve, Patamon, but rest assured; with my Dark Digivice, my slaves have no issue digivolving on their own, as per my own commands. Observe, if you will." The boy bows, as he holds a black Digivice, modeled just like the reformatted Digivice T.K. now has, as it shines an intense darkness towards the Digimon before him.

"Tsukaimon, Dark Digivolve to...!" Tsukaimon calls out, as a massive, towering fog surrounds itself, as emerging from it are scarily long arms in comparison to it's overall body with a humanoid body and leathering wings coming into view.

"Devimon!" Patamon calls out in shock, as the Tsukaimon had Dark Digivolved into none other than his old foe. Reborn, or just among the same species? He couldn't tell right now, as Devimon was eerily silent.

"It has been a while, Patamon. I am surprised you didn't realize that because of File City, even the likes of me can be reborn anew. For you see, no Digimon is off limits from being reborn again in File City. You may even recognize a few faces here and there." Devimon speaks, as Patamon looks around, shocked, as behind him approaches something that actually causes Devimon and the mysterious boy to disappear from view. A massive, long limbed, skinny humanoid walking on all fours, with a row of spikes across it's spine, and a diabolical head with a frightening set of perpetually open jaws and a fish eyed expression. Even with this eyes, the Digimon suddenly has it's eyes look forward towards Patamon, in such a way that the eyes only look more disturbing with their unnatural way of facing forward.

 _ **"̵̨̃̌̔Ỹ̴̟̗̪͗ơ̶̧̒͘ȗ̸̢͕͌.̵͔̀̅.̵̞̏͝.̵̧̣̲͠ ̶͕̹̄̍̎I̸͓̙̓̏̚ ̷̡̕r̴̲̅̄e̵̖̗̋̈m̶̧͎̟͂e̴̮͊̏m̶̛̳ḇ̴̤͓̈́̏̍e̴̗͐̊ṛ̸͕̈́ͅ.̸̛̫͍̮.̵͓̼̏̅.̷̥͈̀̇͘ ̸͉͕̆͂͠I̷͎̦̫͑̆ ̵͙̓̉̃ǎ̵̧͈͇m̸̫̏.̷͉̫̆͊.̸̣̓͠.̴̫̭̇͌̌ ̶̰̈́̀D̶̘͙̲͑ḭ̴̟̺͑̓ą̴̺̦̈́͘b̷͚̺̂͊͜l̵̬̮̍͘͝ͅö̸͕̻m̷͈͈͐̾o̷̫̭̐̆̾͜n̴̫̿̕.̸̲̔͠ͅ.̶̼̚.̷̲̳͋͋̾"̴̨̡̪̒̐̋**_ Diablomon reintroduces, as Patamon flies backwards in place, before eventually flying off in the other direction in an attempt to flee. Diablomon's massive body combined with stretching limbs, however, cause Patamon to be pinned to the ground for his efforts by one of Diablomon's massive hands. Suddenly, out of the blue, the pores on Diablomon's shoulders suddenly open up at once, as an untold number of arms emerge from them, as each of them grab out towards one of the Dark Towers they are closest to as Diablomon's thousands upon thousands of newly forged arms stretch out much, much farther than should physically be possible. Several of these hands even move to grab hold of Infinity Mountain directly behind Diablomon, as Diablomon's head turns an uncannily perfect 180 degrees in place to look towards Infinity Mountain.

 _ **"̶̳̠̽̋P̸̯̼͈̀o̶͚̝̓ẅ̷̩̬̙́̀͝e̷̬̖̔̌r̸̩̖̕.̴̤̠̙́.̷̲̫̌͠.̶̮͔̗̈̄ ̵̬̊̐͆s̶͚̖̩̈́͒̿o̶̟̖̽.̸̻͓̉̕.̵̨̞͇̎̉.̸̗̠̙̑ ̴̧͌̽͜m̴̳̞̊͌u̴̺͑c̴̼̠̈́̕ḣ̵̡̹͉.̵̞̜̎̈́͠.̴̛̗̪̩̽.̸̻̠͂̆ ̸̛̜͍͑p̵̜͈̻̂͋̃o̶̤̚w̷̳͈̲̓͛͠e̴̻̿͐r̶͉̗͊̉.̴̮̥̺̈́͆.̴̣͒.̷̦̻̯̀͝ ̶̹̽͊͘I̷̝̅̕ ̶͒̅͜f̶̨͎̃̄e̸̝͐͐͘e̵̤̥̎̅͝l̶̹̗̠͐̈̕.̷̺̜̻̉.̵̟̜̫̈͂.̵̧̖͕͋ ̷̪͉͎̚I̷̛̮͇͌͠.̷̰͇̈.̶̘̪̊̉.̴̣̑ ̷̢̩́͑f̴̙̿ͅe̵̡̟̋̒e̸̜̫͖͌l̵͙̓̈͒.̵̞͙̪̏̇.̷̻̫͊͜.̸̟̫͂̎ ̸̣̼͋͂ș̷̨̧͛͒̄o̵̤̊́.̵̢̮͊̓͜.̶̥̥̱͛̕͝.̶̤̟͈͛̆͠ ̶̨͍̚g̴̦͔̉͐͝ò̶̪͙ò̸̳̦͚d̷͇̳̺̊͗.̶̠̩͑͠.̷̢͐͋̄.̴̞͔̔"̶̪͉̰͒͂**_ Diablomon speaks, as Patamon can feel Diablomon's larger hand ensure he's pinned, as Diablomon's head turns back around, seamlessly, as it's entire neck stretches as Diablomon's head approaches Patamon's spot, as Diablomon's jaws unhinge like a serpent's as Diablomon's mouth opens to an impossibly wide angle, as Patamon cries out and screams as Diablomon is about to eat him whole.

_**"̴I̸.̸.̴.̷ n̷͈͌ë̷̯ȩ̸̚d̶͓̍.̵̺̂.̶̗̒.̸͖̏ m̵̹̉̎̆o̶̡͔̱̓r̴͙͋e̸͙̪̝͛.̶̫̮͍̇̒.̷̬̌̅.̵͎̇ M̷̧̡̡̞̹̔͗̍̋͑̿̊̃̚ǫ̴̣͓̼̳͐̋̍̉͜ͅr̵̡̦̞̫̄̿͂͋̌̃̿ë̸̫̘̟̺́.̸͕͂.̷̖͉̺̘͙̘̉̑̕͠.̷̰̣̜̍̊̀̋͋̓̚͜!̴̟͉͍͕͋͂̄̒̎ M̵̡̗͔̅͆̈́̀ͅǪ̸̪̱̃̃̓̐̌̈́̀͐̅̒̓̒̎̌̚͝R̵̡̡̨̪̝̺͉̼̤̰͚̪̺̱͍̜̫͍̬̗͐̍̈͌̓͜͠E̵̡̧̩̫̺̥͔̲̣̦̦̜͈̳̺̠̻͇̘̝̹͊̂̇̎͑̇͠.̷̛̛̩̪̲͎͖̫̲̥͑̅̂͜.̵̧̢̛͙̱̜̬̟̫̪̭̜̳̥͆̄͊͆͌̇̚.̶̛̗̪͍̩̣̣͖͈͙͔̦̮̩̦̮̓͛̈͂̊̍́̍̈́͐͊̋̎̋̿̾̔̌̓͝͠!̵̛̱̞͖̺̘͖̦̭̱̝͎̗̹̩̉̌͂̓̌̏̔̋̎́͑͜͝!̸̧͇̘͓̙̠̠̤͍̬̟̰̠̘̮̎̈́"̶̰̯͎̹͍͍̥͙̳̤̄̈͌̈́̈̚͝ͅ** _


	12. Chapter 11: V.B.

Patamon couldn't allow himself to be backed into a corner by this monstrosity. Diablomon was nothing short of a nightmarish foe, as Diablomon's jaws inch ever so closer to Patamon. However, Diablomon's eyes suddenly shift towards the left, as a bright, shining arrow pierces through Diablomon's head, as Diablomon stops dead in his movement.

"Patamon!" Angewomon calls, as Angewomon flies down towards him and moves to grab him, picking him up and flying up into the air in a spiral-like twirl, which manifests a bright, powerful aura of saintly air to surround and engulf both of them.

"Angewomon! This is just like..."

"I know; T.K.'s dreams had already been becoming more and more real every passing moment over the summer. Now isn't the time to remain idle, though." Angewomon calms him, as Patamon, without saying a word, Warp Digivolves to MagnaAngemon using the empowering aura of this holy air that Angewomon has the two of them protected by, as Angewomon lets out a silent gasp.

"Y-You... You Warp Digivolved without T.K.'s presence? It took Agumon and Gabumon 2 years just to be able to do anything like that." Angewomon speaks, as MagnaAngemon shakes his head.

"They evolved twice in those instances, simply skipping one form to go immediately into the next possible." MagnaAngemon speaks, as Diablomon's eyes suddenly shift in movement, as MagnaAngemon is quick to notice.

"Unfortunately for this diabolical monster, I've had to endure this nightmare myself just like T.K. for months on end; my own unyielding hope had made me more than prepared to finally take action into my own hands. It is my own Gate of Destiny I had seen many times before, waiting for my command from which to summon it." MagnaAngemon speaks, as he unsheathes his sword from his right arm, and forms a magic circle using it, and points it down towards Diablomon. The gate, however, does not immediately open, as Angewomon places herself behind the Gate of Destiny, as once the doors finally open, thousands upon thousands of Celestial Arrows rain down upon Diablomon at once, with each one of them transforming into chains forged of solid light and engraved by holy seals.

Diablomon responded by simply growing additional arms from it's shoulders to try and strike down MagnaAngemon and Angewomon with, but MagnaAngemon would not allow himself to be deterred, and neither did Diablomon it seemed. MagnaAngemon, moving forward, strikes with his sword to sever the newly forging arms from Diablomon at once, as Diablomon moves itself by force to position it's chest cavity to open up and fire a destructive blast towards MagnaAngemon, only for the already deployed Gate of Destiny to absorb it entirely and draw it's fire away from MagnaAngemon almost entirely. Angewomon, still behind the Gate of Destiny, flies upward during Diablomon's recoil from each individual blast, to take arm with her arms as she manifests a gigantic Celestial Arrow in hand, before firing it down into Diablomon's chest, pinning him to the ground and disabling the cannon's function.

"Funny, isn't it, Diablomon? For it was once you that had once towered over me while I was defenseless and at your mercy." MagnaAngemon speaks, as Angewomon teleports down to step down towards Diablomon's head, as Diablomon's head moves to face her without his eyes having budged an inch, making it appear like from the angle that he had moved, Diablomon's eyes were facing the inside of his own head.

"I have a feeling that had this been 2 years ago, MagnaAngemon would've destroyed you without so much as batting an eye, just like how I was told Omegamon did." Angewomon speaks to Diablomon, as MagnaAngemon looks towards her, as Angewomon in turn looks towards him. "Though part of me feels like he intends for something else to happen this time." Angewomon speaks, as MagnaAngemon looks back at Diablomon, briefly, before looking at Angewomon with a nod.

"Indeed, I would have... but part of me feels something within Diablomon had grown since we had last encountered it. Before, Diablomon was a soulless monstrosity, but something much more... pure, now manifests from within it, asking to be freed of it's physical form it has now. It's tone confuses me, admittedly, but I can feel a genuine innocence with this tone it has." MagnaAngemon speaks, as Diablomon's eyes turn around, as its mouth completely closes, an odd sight for a Digimon whose mouth was almost always hanging open by comparison. Angewomon looks in surprise, though, as the holy chains begin to disappear and absorb themselves into Diablomon's whole body, as Diablomon's body shrinks and decreases in size, as though undergoing De-Digivolution.

By the time the blinding light clears, MagnaAngemon and Angewomon witness as a chocolate colored rabbit appears in Diablomon's place, with three points on it's forehead and a few pink colored spots across it's small body contrasted by massive, lopped ears. MagnaAngemon and Angewomon, seeing that this is the newly converted Diablomon on it's own accord, both De-Digivolve to Angemon and Gatomon respectively. Angemon does not De-Digivolve to Patamon just yet, though, as he isn't certain of any continued dangerous presence in the area overall.

"So, you must be the Digimon that Willis tried to create when he was much younger, aren't you?" Gatomon asks, as the rabbit-like Digimon becomes rather skittish, and moves to fly with it's ears to hide behind Angemon. Gatomon, blinking a bit in confusion, realizes that something had startled it, but that it wasn't her. Instead, it was the rising sun and the presence of the mysterious boy and Devimon, the latter hiding in the shadows just behind the mysterious, chuckling boy witnessing this sight.

"So, the rumors are true, there do indeed appear to be stronger adversaries than I had anticipated. If that's the case, it appears my attempts to salvage his data was all for naught for the time being." The boy speaks, as he refers towards the rabbit-like Digimon hiding behind Angemon with Gatomon shooting the boy a glare.

"You don't stand a chance against us now, the sun's rising; your power is fading as ours is only intensifying." Gatomon boasts to the boy, as Devimon begins to hide further and further into the boy's shadow.

"That is true, but my mission was otherwise successful, as all I needed was to retrieve a single specimen from this place alive, and Devimon, even in a groggy, weakened state, is a very much alive and intact specimen for my research." The mysterious boy adds, as he fades from view, becoming semi-transparent as the morning sun rises.

"Let this be known, however, in that you will all eventually bow before the Digimon Emperor, one way, or another." The boy says with a sadistic glee, as he and Devimon both disappear into the shadows completely as the sun fully rises from over the horizon. Gatomon sighs, as Angemon De-Digivolves to Patamon now that it appears all is safe with where they are now. Patamon, though, can't help but be curious as to Diablomon's newly reformed appearance.

"Sooo... What is your name?" Patamon asks with a child-like innocence, knowing it would probably be easier for the new Digimon to process his wording this way for now.

"I... I am... Lopmon..." Lopmon introduces, as Lopmon looks around rather skittishly, before running over towards Gatomon and hiding behind her. Gatomon snickers a little, as Patamon flies over to look at her.

"He's a shy little boy now; to think all of this was hiding underneath all of the malicious coding that formed Diablomon this whole time." Gatomon finds curiously with looking upon just how adorable Lopmon is behaving, almost akin to a younger child than even T.K. and Kari were like by comparison.

"Diablomon? No, I am Lopmon. Lopmon!" Lopmon speaks, confused by what this Diablomon name is referring to, as Patamon lands on the ground to look at Patamon.

"I am Patamon, and this is my friend Gatomon. You must've chosen to side with us now that Diablomon's influence was weakening on your true self, Lopmon." Patamon asks, as Lopmon looks at him, partially understanding some of it, as he giggles a bit.

"I-I guess that is true... I was so lonely, in that form, trying to make friends, only to wind up nearly inflicting death everywhere I had went... I don't understand why I was given such a form... I wish I could apologize more for my actions in that form... Were they even my own, though?" Lopmon asks, as Gatomon moves to gently pat Lopmon's head to reassure him.

"You'll be fine, Lopmon; you're unique, a young one born in a new generation of Digitama. You'll understand some day once we manage to get you back to your partner Willis." Gatomon tells him, as Patamon looks around at the time of day it is in the Digital World.

"Ah! I'm late! T.K.'s going to flip if I'm not the first one he sees after waking up from those injuries!" Patamon speaks, before teleporting out of view into a miniature DigiGate, as Lopmon looks around, a bit confused, as Gatomon sighs as she looks on.

"Perhaps to reunite you with Willis, we must first get his attention to us, it would seem." Gatomon ponders, as two, loud footsteps of someone landing just out of view of the two shakes the ground beneath them, all the while Lopmon moves to hide behind Gatomon away from the aproaching entity, as Gatomon looks up as she's surprised with who she sees.

"You?! What are you doing here, Dynasmon?! Did Sigma survive after all?!" Gatomon asks, as Dynasmon looks down at her, due to his own immense height.

"It is too soon to know; we've only just begun to put her through the repair process. It'll take weeks for her mind to recover from the recoil of the explosive your friend used inside of her frame. That, however, is not why I am here. I am here to offer a ceasefire, Gatomon, in hopes that both the DigiDestined and Royal Knights can prepare to take on our newly discovered enemy after what I had observed several minutes before making myself known." Dynasmon speaks, as Gatomon's eyes widen a bit, as they narrow a bit as she growls a bit.

"So... the Digimon Emperor kid... There's more to him than what T.K.'s dreams were leading on, especially with us learning he's real after all." Gatomon speaks, as Dynasmon nods.

"Indeed, hence why I ask a ceasefire, and you will agree." Dynasmon points out, as Gatomon glares.

"What do you intend to do about Sealsdramon? I will not agree to any ceasefire with a suspicious faction while knowing he's still at large." Gatomon brings up, as Dynasmon chuckles a bit.

"He will be dealt with accordingly, but as of now two other elements are in play now that Lady Sigma is out of the picture for now... Did by any chance Miyako and Iori acquire a Digivice of their own yet? If not..."

"... Then we still have a problem..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: So a lot of my goals with Diary of an Analog is to undo the Badass Decay that Angemon and Angewomon had suffered in canon 02. While I will be having Angewomon's Mega Level be Ophanimon in this fic, I am still rather irritated that in Hurricane Touchdown, both she and Angemon achieved Mega Level only to suffer the Worf Effect without so much as using a single attack, as perhaps the most irritable thing 02 did that turned both Angel Digimon into overglorified Jobbers for Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and even Wormmon. Even so, honestly? Paildramon shouldn't have went above Mega, and it should've been Angemon and Angewomon that both achieved Mega Level instead. It would've made for a nice book end with the fact the younger siblings of Tai and Matt each achieve Mega Level with their partners much like howAgumon and Gabumon did before them.)


	13. Chapter 11.5: Gear Savannah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Shorter chapter than normal but this chapter tackles a certain Elephant in the Room regarding a canon event that legit happened in 02's intro episode.

Gatomon and Lopmon were strolling through the unknown File Island, as Gatomon at the very least was pondering how she even managed to get in here. If what Patamon had informed her was true, this server of File Island was not supposed to be accessible normally. Something was amiss, it was though this were too easy...

That's when the surprising charge of a sharp horn tackling into Gatomon's side occurs, in which Lopmon looks on in fright as a Unimon, with reddened eyes, and having a dark collar around it's neck rears it's head up and howls an ungodly shriek. Gatomon, getting back up from the attack, looks around as she notices her tail is now missing a certain detail; a Holy Ring adorned on it, under normal circumstances, now currently right next to Unimon's feet. Unimon steps forward, nearly looking from her angle that Unimon would step on it and break it.

However, from Lopmon's angle, Unimon's nearest hoof touched the ground further away from the Holy Ring, as if having avoided touching it due to the dark collar reacting with a negative energy spike against Unimon in response. Something didn't want Unimon to go near it, as though Unimon's own inherent good will was breaking free of this imprisoned mentality from this Control Ring. Gatomon quickly realized what was going on, as she moves low to the ground, prowling towards Unimon, before suddenly leaping forward and grabbing onto Unimon's back as Unimon attempts to buck to get her off.

With only a single hand, though, Gatomon is able to maintain a surprisingly strong grip on Unimon's back, as her claws glow a bright yellow as Gatomon lets out an oddly deep, leonine roar from her mouth.

"Howling Crusher!" Gatomon speaks, before swiping at the Control Ring with her free hand as the ring completely shatters like porcelain upon mere impact from her swiping claws. Gatomon keeps a hold of Unimon, as Unimon rears up as Unimon is regaining it's senses, as Unimon moves to stand normally on the ground as it calms down, with Gatomon patting Unimon's neck gently to soothe it.

"There there, sorry about that fella." Gatomon speaks, as she leaps off of Unimon's back, as she simply takes her Holy Ring from the ground as she places it on her tail, with her channeling light magic to have the Holy Ring form a tighter grip around her tail so it wouldn't fall off again so casually.

"That was very brave of you Gatomon..." Lopmon says, as he watches innocently as Unimon leaves the scene, as the sound of powerful footsteps approach.

Dynasmon had been hovering idly much further away, giving Gatomon and Lopmon some space for now under the pretense he thinks he had been too blunt with his negotiation with her. As Dynasmon looks to his side and realizes who is walking towards him an equally large, sabertoothed lion sits down next to him.

"I see she's gotten the situation under control, and here I assumed her kind was only rumored to be related to my own." SaberLeomon speaks, as Dynasmon raises an eye.

"Don't her claws have bits of your own data infused in them by default?" Dynasmon asks, as SaberLeomon nods.

"Correct, and hence why for the longest of time until recently, Gatomon's species was thought to be more closely related to Leomon-species like myself because of it. For while Gatomon may indeed be proficient in divinity with her Holy Ring..." SaberLeomon speaks, as he looks towards Gatomon leading Lopmon back on their way to find someplace to rest.

"Someone like her has no need to strictly rely on it to be able to use her inner lion's heart to evoke our own, shared strength."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN And that is how both Adventure Leomon is reborn, as stated with Devimon's words the prior chapter, and what he's doing now, as well also hammering down the point across I'm not having the whole "lost Holy Ring" plot point from canon 02 take affect here for Gatomon.  
> Although, part of me finds it a tiny bit ironic I'm writing a chapter involving felines as my tribute to a German Shepard mix we had in this household that had to be put down due to a tumor bursting inside of his stomach earlier today. He was only in this household a little less than a year and a half, but he lived a longer life than average and he was happy while he was here with us. I will miss him, truly.


	14. Chapter 12: Infinity Mountain's Core

"Tell me, Devimon," The mysterious boy speaks, as he walks down a path at File Island, his left hand grazing the side of the imposing Infinity Mountain, as if searching for something out of place.

"I'm Tsukaimon for the moment, since I don't want anyone getting on our case... That is, of course, you are true to your word that you can do the one thing I never could regarding this nostalgic place." Tsukaimon corrects, as he hides his own power from the potential witnesses that are the DigiDestined. Even if they are not physically present, Devimon is no fool; he was already felled once by their strongest Champion in the past, and while he tormented that even said Champion wouldn't survive the process.

Clearly witnessing said Champion reborn, and having achieved Ultimate Level like it meant nothing to him, had Devimon's mind spinning from the realization of what all he must've missed while having been deceased. Even the Digimon known as "Diablomon" escaped his radar, not only for it's Mega Level power, but because he had never seen such a monstrosity before at all. All of this, and who knows how much more, Devimon is thinking to himself, his thoughts racing, all the while hiding in a form best described as Patamon's living shadow. Following the mysterious boy, who dubs himself the "Digimon Emperor"...

... Just as his feeling hand realizes something off with the side of Infinity Mountain, causing him to stop where he was walking to look at the side of the mountain.

"Here it is. Though, before we begin, is there anything that needs clarified on why exactly you're letting me access this place, just to be certain your memories haven't been completely scrambled in your rebirth?" The mysterious boy asks, as Tsukaimon looks at the wall in question; to anyone else, even to him, it looks no different from any other part of Infinity Mountain proper.

"I have read the forbidden texts on this mountain in the ancient past; I was but a fraction of what power the Digital World had to offer. I had conquered File Island not simply as a display of power, using my darkness to tangle with the minds of it's inhabitants, but because the generation of Digitama I was born to was only capable of so much; I would die young, never to see Ultimate Level, and for that, I had settled on File Island due to both it's small size, and the lack of competition who seemed to already avoid this place like the plague. I never quite understood why this was the case, until I realized that humans could ever possess such mastery over their own Digimon at their side; through their companionship, capable of awakening the true Light of Digivolution; the Light of Digivolution is not some concept of faith or anything of the sort, but is the personification of a bond between two entities; one a Digimon, the other a human." Tsukaimon speaks, as he looks up at the mysterious boy, who appears to be listening, but makes no indication of answering, meaning he wants Tsukaimon to continue on his explanation.

"There really isn't much to it than that, to be honest; there is the antithesis to it, though, that is Dark Digivolution. However, even Digimon, Virus Attribute, Dark Element, Nightmare Soldiers, or just in any way or form appearing to be anything sort of "evil" in a traditional sense, they too could all be achievable forms through the Light of Digivolution, even my own form, or the forms of those far beyond my league in my prior life." Tsukaimon elaborates, as the mysterious boy is feeling around the surface of the rock before him.

"So what makes 'Dark Digivolution' so special, knowing that whatever form you could ever achieve from it, ultimately being possible with even the Light of Digivolution as well?" The mysterious boy asks, as Tsukaimon opens his eyes.

"Pure, unadulterated, chaos. Dark Digivolution is the result of a miscommunication from at least one side of the attempt to evoke the Light of Digivolution; the Digimon and human have to be in a state of a harmonious synchronization to achieve Digivolution under any circumstances, but the reason for Dark Digivolution is normally a subject that does not apply to Champion Level Digimon, at least, not normally, anyways. You were able to evoke my Champion Form briefly through Dark Digivolution, but the miscommunication in synchronization was deliberate on at least your own account. Normally when Dark Digivolution occurs, it is through an accidental mistreatment of the Digimon undergoing Digivolution. Outright malice is something only seldom used in Dark Digivolution, as often the resulting form is nothing more than a mindless beast that holds nothing any higher prejudice than anything else. Dark Digivolution is not natural; it is chaos, and to invoke one naturally, well... that showcases you are indeed as every bit as worthy of my trust as you are to me in return." Tsukaimon elaborates more, before manifesting into a shadowy form, and taking upon his original Devimon form before him, except in a much smaller frame than when last seen.

"So you're saying the reason you are giving me this place is because we both have a shared feeling of malice towards others, is that correct?" The mysterious boy asks, as Devimon nods, as the boy chuckles a little bit to himself, before looking towards the portion of the wall he's been staring at for some time now, as he pulls out his Digivice and summons forth an unknown Digimon that not even Devimon recognized at first.

"I am here, Master." An insectoid, larval-esque Digimon speaks, as he looks towards Devimon with a bit of surprise. "I must admit I didn't expect to see someone like him this up close." The Digimon speaks, as Devimon raises an eye at the mysterious boy.

"This Digimon's species, I am unfamiliar with this one. What is he?" Devimon asks, as the mysterious boy adjusts the frame to his shades.

"Wormmon, Rookie Level, Free Attribute, Dark Element. Anything else?" The mysterious boy asks, as Devimon is about to point to the door in a confused manner, "I am aware that a Nightmare Soldiers Digimon are the only ones capable of hacking the source code for the interior of the fortress, even if a human is still the one who needs to access it. Even if I didn't assist in your rebirth, Wormmon alone would've sufficed simply to grant me entry, for even he is a Nightmare Soldiers Digimon, no matter how much he doesn't look it." The mysterious boy points out, as Devimon sighs in relief.

"Okay so no risks of the defense systems activating and annihilating us then... You had me going with that cutesy looking thing at first. Although... If you already have a Partner Digimon of your own, which is also a Nightmare Soldiers Digimon... why am I needed?" Devimon asks, as Wormmon looks towards his master, who gives him a nod, then back at Digimon.

"For even though I can protect my master all on my own, I lack the means of producing the darkest materials he needs from which to spread his newfound empire to an even larger reach than merely File Island." Wormmon speaks, as Devimon raises an eye.

"So you're needing my old supply of Dark Gears? I hate to inform you but as we walked around this whole mountain, I detected none of their energy signatures while we wandered. I doubt any of them so much as remain so much as the ability to mass produce them... besides they don't work on Ultimates; the only reason I had two Ultimates ensnared through them was by complete, dumb luck." Devimon speaks, as the mysterious boy shines a red light from the screen of his Digivice towards the wall, as an odd signal begins to transmit from the mountain and the mysterious boy's Digivice.

"New variable detected accessing A's chambers. Passcode?" Devimon could be seen ducking in cover as he hears the monotone, loud computer voice speaking, as if knowing what'll happen if access is denied.

"Passcode input: Infinitedramon." The mysterious boy speaks aloud, as Devimon winces as he can already practically feel the automated defenses...

... Not activating, as Wormmon taps him to get him to move back to his feet, as Devimon cannot believe what he is seeing; the red light scanning the base of Infinity Mountain is beginning to cause the sides of Infinity Mountain to light up like a circuit board, but unlike what Devimon anticipated, it only manifested on a small doorway that opened up for the mysterious boy, as he and Wormmon head inside, with Devimon following.

"... Mind I ask how you knew the password?"

"It's not necessarily how I knew it, but how it's spelled. It's not "Mugendramon" as in "Infinitydramon", it's "Mugendramon" as in "Infinitedramon". It's a literal translation from which the original owner of the interior of this mountain had written in the code representing Machinedramon's name. Of course, that wasn't the true variable; to speak the Japanese password would normally get you booted out, but to speak the password in it's beat for beat English translation is the true keys to the empire. The name was changed at the last second, after the password had been hardcoded into the mountain, to refer to the Digimon itself as "Machinedramon", to avoid anybody guessing the true purpose of Infinity Mountain proper." The mysterious boy speaks, as he can't help but slowly begin to laugh as his glasses shine red, highlighting something up ahead that amuses him a little bit.

Then Devimon couldn't help but notice the mysterious boy beginning to cackle maniacally, as Devimon's eyes widen for if he was already in disbelief at this nobody accessing the interior of Infinity Mountain, he was now staring in utter horror with what kind of diamond in the rough, that was oddly still alive even in spite of it's current condition.

"He... lives...?!" Devimon asks, horrified, staring into the dormant, but still very much beating, very much alive Digicore of none other than Machinedramon of the Dark Masters, with much of his overall body oddly intact off to the side aside from having been butchered to individual pieces. It wouldn't take very much resources to complete the repairs, but Devimon wasn't sure whether such raw, unequaled power should ever fall into human hands. He did not know whether or not he should kill the boy right now to avoid such abuse of power... but... no... that would be a coward's way out.

For as to not see what this boy's very intentions with Machinedramon's remains forever hold a mystery over Devimon's head, and to never see this plan see the light of day sooner would be to never see it happen at all.

After all, the mysterious boy is the reason he's now standing in this very room, as he can't help but imagine what kind of power could be extracted from Machinedramon proper...

... Only for the gears to begin to turn within Devimon's own mind, as he realizes he could afford to keep this boy around for a while. A long while. To see what kind of power he himself could achieve with this boy's access to what was otherwise the forbidden knowledge...

Invented by beings much like him; beings known as humans, in their world, but forever to Digimon as Analogs.


	15. Chapter 13: Pulse

The trip out of the hospital was nothing out of the ordinary. It was nice to see dad again, though, as he had taken me to his apartment to allow me to change into a fresh set of clothes, get some breakfast, and then be on my way back to school proper. 

I don't know what all I must've missed, but by the time I got back to the school grounds for the first time since having encountered Lady Sigma, it was somewhat refreshing to see Miyako and Iori waiting for me at the front gate. Though... why were they waiting for me in particular? They don't even know me and yet-

Oh wait.

"Hey, Takeru, is it? We've been expecting you." Iori says, looking up to me. Something is amiss, as Miyako looks a tad panicked trying to look at me.

"Okay, so let's cut to the chase with what you missed, T.K.... your mom is doing fine, in fact all of our home neighborhood is... oddly fine." Miyako tells me, as I look at her and raise an eye.

"Really? I could've sworn Patamon at some point told me that Lady Sigma had demolished a good several section of the area with a single attack." I point out, as even though I didn't outright see the attack proper, I did at the very least feel the shockwave coming back from that direction as I fled with Miyako and Iori to the school. Iori looked at me, pulling out a newspaper from his backpack and handing it to me, as I look and read what it has to say.

* * *

_"Apartment Complex reappears after hostile force levels it to the ground._

_In the past 24 hours, a gigantic humanoid creature known, a form of Digital Monster, had appeared and leveled an entire portion of an apartment complex and then some just before the first day of school for many of the residents here. However, when the next day arrived, the apartment complex had mysteriously reappeared, with all of the inhabitants found safe and sound, albeit for some reason half-dressed and in an amnesiac state. Local authorities are stumped as to how the apartments have reappeared, but after a state of emergency was declared prior, things have calmed down with the attacker having not reappeared and everything being somewhat back to normal. Some of the locals have been taken into custody to ask some questions in the event any of them happen to remember anything about what had happened, but so far results have been inconclusive as the investigation is still ongoing, and everything is beginning to return to normal, albeit with a lot of questions unanswered. We are reaching out to one of the locals known as Yagami Taichi in hopes of an interview, as his involvement in the attacks by VenomMyotismon 3 years ago would be our best bet with finding a lead in terms of what exactly had happened here."_

* * *

... Well that cat's out of the bag, since even though the neighborhood is back to normal and the residents are amnesiac, it's clear that the news did not forget about VenomMyotismon from 3 years prior.

I don't even get the chance to think on that as Miyako is quick to grab me by the arm and drag me inside to the school premises.

"Okay okay, so perhaps we should give a tour of the Elementary School since you're still the new kid in Odaiba." Miyako states, hiding panic in her voice as she tries to maintain her composure. As much as she is being forceful, the disruption of the status quo with the Royal Knights have clearly traumatized her, so I avoid putting up a fuss about her intentions of giving me a tour. I don't see any harm in it anyways, as I actually had only been inside the school once, and even then it was only in the hallways since we were hiding from the Knightmon from yesterday.

"You wouldn't mind if we find somewhere to sit down and chat while we try and get to at least know each other first, would you?" I ask, trying to hopefully give Miyako an idea so that she could give a tour while hopefully calming down. I understand a tour would be good and all, but since dad had told me before arriving at his place that I wouldn't need to do any classes today because of my recovery being top priority, I figured I could possibly vouch for Miyako and Iori to sit down and talk with me to somewhat assist in a way that'll calm the two down as well. Speaking of which, Iori has been awfully quiet at this point; he only really spoke up today when he showed me the newspaper.

"Maybe in the computer room?" Iori speaks up, at least, as I look down towards him.

"Sure, just lead the way." I ask, as soon enough, Miyako leads me into an oddly nearby room, as though she had intended to take me here regardless of where I had specified. Once inside, the room seemed rather empty, a few students working quietly with headphones on, and one student in particular who looks like he's fallen asleep.

"We have to be quiet, though, but we're allowed in here at virtually any time other than that." Iori brings up, as he walks into the room first, and almost as though it were second nature to him, immediately gets onto a computer chair and logs in to one of the numerous PCs in the room and places headphones over his ears. Miyako, only slowly, moved to do the same, but instead of sitting next to Iori, she sat next to the sleeping kid and begins to log in. Deciding that Iori shouldn't be left alone, I move to sit right next to him as I log in, putting headphones on as well.

Upon logging in appears a few different applications. First of which is an instant messenger program set up to link every PC in the room with each other, with one server constantly turned on, and small private servers existing between specific students. Iori had set up a private server, but Miyako didn't appear to be within it upon clicking to log in to Iori's chat room. I type on the key board, due to not wanting to be rude by bringing aloud what's going on with Miyako.

* * *

{Why is Miyako elsewhere?}

{She's with that other kid. She always manages to log into his private server, even though there's a password on it. Nobody else but him has otherwise gotten into it.}

I noticed right away that Iori is significantly chattier when it comes to being on a PC typing. I don't think about it too much just yet, as I see him having sent another message by the time I pay attention again.

{Don't tell this to the other students, but Miyako has been caught several times trying to hack the software controlling the hardware elsewhere in the building. She's actually broken into accounts used by teachers and other staff, just to find out info about them.}

Miyako, a hacker? She doesn't appear to be that type on the surface.

{I wish I knew what she was doing with trying to prompt that sleepy kid, but she appears to be attracted to him. I don't know why, though; all I ever see him do is sleep whenever I'm in here while he's here."

{He has a name, doesn't he?}

{I wouldn't know of it; I don't attend any classes with him like how Miyako does. All I know is that he's apparently skipped a grade and that's why he's taking the same classes as Miyako.}

{I do have one other question... why does Miyako refer to you and Daisuke by more American sounding names?}

{She picked up the habit from a guy she met one time while we were on a trip in America during the summer, his name is Willis. He apparently also has a Digimon of his own, which brings me to why Miyako had brought us here to begin with.}

{I'm listening.}

{Miyako knew you would eventually come to the computer room, which is why she anticipated you asking for a tour of here sooner or later, and she wasn't exactly patient enough to be subtle about it. She wants to know something ever since Davis wound up with a Digimon of his own.}

{And what would that be?} I type, as I can feel Iori tug at my sleeve as he holds out his hand, as my eyes widen a bit with what I see.

In his hand is a Digivice, very much in the shape of my own after it's upgrade. The screen is glowing, flickering on and off, as if trying to track something.

That's when the power goes out and Iori's screen is the only one with power still. I look at it and notice a DigiGate is opening, and appears to drag myself and Iori inside without any other warning prior.

* * *

We wind up somewhere in the Digital World, somewhere freezing cold, yet somewhere with a foreboding atmosphere. I look around, hoping Patamon would be not far away, as with luck, Patamon had indeed teleported right next to me as I look at him.

"So took him long enough to show up here. I believe his partner is calling out to him, but here of all places? I didn't even know this URL existed until I realized his Digivice was being guided here." Patamon speaks, as I look around, and see that aside from some gigantic mountain range directly in front of us, that absolutely nothing else is in sight, all the while Iori is shivering right next to him.

"Iori, hold on, I'll get us to shelter!" I say, as I look towards Patamon, as he nods in understanding as a bright flash surrounds him, before he reemerges as Angemon. Grabbing us both in his arms, he flies up in the air, looking for anywhere nearby in search of shelter. Angemon flies us around, eventually seeing someplace further in the distance, as I look back at the mountain range behind us. However, something was off putting about it.

It looks awfully... artificial, even by the standards of what the Digital World is known for. It appears as though something weirder is going on with it, as I hold my Digivice to my chest and scan the surroundings for any signs of life.

I can hear the pulse of Angemon... and the slower, but very much alive, pulse of something utterly gargantuan originating from that mountain.


	16. Chapter 14: A World without Hope Part 1

The Digimon they were looking towards was an abomination far larger than even Apocalymon in size, and he was perhaps the largest of the Digimon T.K. would've known off of the top of his head.

Angemon turned around, to have a look at some kind of odd movement from all over the place. At first, one would be forgiven for assuming the whole mountain was trying to move all on it's own.

"Angemon! Ascend! Ascend!!!" T.K. shouts, panicked, upon seeing what appears to be billions of extending hands reaching out from the ground below, as Angemon flies up higher into the air to avoid them, and even then these billions turning trillions of hands give chase relentlessly, as Angemon glares as he moves to lift T.K. and Iori onto his shoulders.

"Stay on my back, and hold on!" Angemon yells, as the two in question do so, as they're both beyond frightened by wherever they may be. T.K. doesn't recognize this place as being from anywhere in the Digital World, at least, any version of it that he is familiar with.

"Oh holy powers that be, lend me your strength in this moment of need!" Angemon chants, as he holds his staff horizontally in both hands, as a bright, reinforced shield of light surrounds him and the two boys on his back. An overwhelming defensive power, but one Angemon wasn't sure would hold. The untold fathom of hands make impact with the shield either way, and begin to try and savagely bring it lower into the ground to the point their long, delicate fingers begin to tear away at the shield of light.

"We're doomed! It's hopeless!" Iori speaks, crying out in terror, as he clings to Angemon and T.K. for some form of security, as T.K. looks at his Digivice and the ring surrounding it's monitor begin to glow an intense light.

"Angemon! Hold on! Push! Them! Back!" T.K. calls out, as Angemon nods, as an explosive forcefield expands from Angemon outwards as he begins to shine like a star in brightness.

"Angemon, Digivolve to...!" Angemon speaks, as the brightening, intense flares of energy emerging from him completely shatter the endless swarm of hands near them in one foul swoop, only for the hands to still just as fiercely try and interfere and attack the trio. However, an even brighter flare of light pushes them significantly further back, as taking Angemon's place is MagnaAngemon. MagnaAngemon, drawing a circular wave with his sword in right hand, summons forth the Gate of Destiny, as the Gate opens up and immediately begins to tear away at the billions of hands reaching for the trio, only for their vile intents to be the result of their own demise as they are too powerless and frail to avoid the Gate of Destiny drawing them in like a vortex and destroying them upon contact.

"Enough!!!" An unfamiliar voice speaks out to the trillions of hands, as they completely cease movement altogether and disappear, with what little remaining being absorbed by the Gate of Destiny and destroyed, as the Gate of Destiny closes upon determining no further threat is nearby. Iori is still clinging to T.K. as well as MagnaAngemon, as the tall Archangel Digimon turns to face T.K. a bit.

"Keep low, lay still, and don't let them know you're here just yet, Takeru." MagnaAngemon speaks, quietly, to T.K., as T.K. nods and moves to comfort Iori, holding him close as he now begins to listen for anything nearby. The snow storm hasn't exactly let up, but the sound of it's harsh winds have all of a sudden disappeared.

Someone else was now here with them.

"What is the madness that is going on in this holy ground?" MagnaAngemon asks the source of the voice, as the source reveals itself as being in a form uncannily similar to Angemon's own. A horizontal bar on his mask as opposed to a cross, and having fiery wrappings around his body, and apparently only two wings instead of six, and appearing in a blazing form of fire behind the Digimon.

"I am Pidmon. I am not here to harm, I am afraid I am equally confused as you are regarding recent events. Our Lord's Powers..."

"Yes? What of Celestial Digimon Seraphimon and the others?"

"The others, having parted to deal with the other DigiDestined with their associated successors... I am afraid there is of little choice in inheriting their powers, for this or any other world to be saved." Pidmon speaks, solemnly, as he points with his staff akin to a torch towards the mountain range in the distance.

"The Unholy Ones have claimed that landmass as their territory; they are holding the Blinding One, Valdurmon, as their prisoner, draining her of her vitals bit by bit. We do not, however, possess the means to stop them, not yet, at least." Pidmon speaks, as MagnaAngemon is uncertain, as he floats directly towards Pidmon.

"Is something bothering you? You seem evasive to speaking of Seraphimon..." MagnaAngemon asks, as Pidmon looks startled by MagnaAngemon's tone.

"I believe it is wise you refrain from speaking His Name directly; Our Lord is... not doing well... He... He is dying..." Pidmon speaks, as MagnaAngemon gasps.

"D-Dying...? How? Why?" MagnaAngemon questions, as Pidmon points towards an entire wave of thousands among billions of unholy hands reaching out to them, hidden within the snow.

MagnaAngemon moves to bring forth his sword to once again summon the Gate of Destiny, but Pidmon holds his arm back using only his staff, shaking his head to MagnaAngemon.

"That will only delay them for so long, but even then you are at least wise to have moved forward to within range of our shields, but we won't last much longer unless we can exorcise the force causing them to emerge altogether." Pidmon speaks, all without seeming to even so much as notice T.K. and Iori, who are both hiding and remaining quiet, out of view due to MagnaAngemon's wings.

As they watch, the barrier does indeed repel the multitude of arms trying to grasp at the group, but when they do, the barrier is partly shoved back inward, all the way up to a spot where Pidmon is standing, as he subsequently is standing on a lot of lines drawn in the snow, some outside of the barrier, and Pidmon moving to draw a new one in place of the old one. Summoning forth a piece of paper, Pidmon writes a seal on it, before placing it into the ground where he drew said line.

"My seals can only prevent the barrier from being shoved back entirely; they cannot heal the barrier at all. Hence why Seraphimon has chosen to make the ultimate sacrifice once we are absolutely certain Valdurmon is freed." Pidmon speaks, as MagnaAngemon simply lowers his arms to his sides, as he walks towards the large temple from which the barrier is hiding within. A palace forged of ice and crystal, as Pidmon walks along with him to see him to inside.

* * *

"It has been a while since we've had an Archangel in these halls, but I don't know whether or not it is thankful for your safe arrival here, but to ensure your escape is a bigger priority." Pidmon speaks, as he walks through the halls of the crystalized palace, as MagnaAngemon walks with him; T.K. and Iori were getting worried; MagnaAngemon was so keen on keeping them hidden, but why? Pidmon stops in his tracks, watching as MagnaAngemon walks by, and is already long staring towards his backside where T.K. and Iori are now in view of Pidmon.

"HolyAngemon, correct?" Pidmon asks, as MagnaAngemon turns towards him.

"MagnaAngemon, and yes, these two accompany me; I did not wish for their presence to disturb you from when I was last seen here." MagnaAngemon speaks, as T.K. and Iori move to step off of MagnaAngemon's backside, upon him giving T.K. a nod to do so. Iori is shivering, rather saddened, as he doesn't even know why he's even here if this world is in such a desperate state.

"I was told many things about the Digital World by... by someone I knew..." Iori speaks, as Pidmon watches and listens, as T.K. looks around.

"Hold up, these photographs on the wall. These are of events in the real world, but..." T.K. tries to look at these photographs, but he can't seem to grasp what they mean; he can distinctly recognize the locations, but yet at the same time, he cannot tell which areas are which.

"Where are we, Pidmon?" MagnaAngemon asks, as Pidmon looks over towards T.K., who is eyeing a rather intriguing photograph of a long necked animal swimming in water.

"This place used to be known as Scotland; with humanity gone ever since the nuclear winter took hold, nothing has been recognizable to anyone anymore." Pidmon answers, as T.K. looks at him in stunned shock, before regaining his composure just enough to ask something else.

"What happened to the Digital World?" T.K. asks, as Pidmon shudders.

"The Beast, known as Diablomon, has rendered it nothing more than a hollowed out hive; the world we once knew was originally sacred ground, but then the Dark Masters showed up one day, only to be imprisoned, only to eventually be freed, and none defeated since. We know not their fate, but if from what has happened to our own kind is of any indication, Diablomon slaughtered them all without so much as batting an eye." Pidmon speaks, seemingly in a disappointed tone, as he moves to walk off, towards a painting of sorts etched into the wall.

"These over here, are known as Digivices. They were creations meant to channel the fuel and lifeforce of all of Digimon through human companions, the Light of Digivolution, and had once flowed through those who worshipped it's might, and in having done so, worship the Sacred One that is Valdurmon in turn." Pidmon speaks, as T.K. wants to say something, but feels as though he shouldn't; some kind of depressing atmosphere is in this place, as Pidmon appears to be the only Digimon they've managed to find aside from a weak pulse from Valdurmon, with Seraphimon's pulse not yet noticed.

"What had happened to the Eight DigiDestined who were sent to the Digital World in Earth Year 1999?" MagnaAngemon asked Pidmon, but Pidmon looks at him.

"... Eight? I thought there were only five... not that it meant anything, as only four actually showed up, only to be massacred by a Devimon and leaving us without any hope; no DigiDestined groups have appeared since then, either; Diablomon made certain of it." Pidmon answers, as Iori still eyes the photograph that caught his attention.

"A World without Hope..." T.K. mumbled, as T.K. could feel something nearby, as MagnaAngemon in turn noticed a peculiar hallway leading to someplace obscured in shadow.

"I know why you allowed me to bring you here; you seek the Power from which to prevent disaster in your own world, the Armor DigiEgg of Hope, correct?" Pidmon asks, as T.K. looks towards Pidmon, determination on his face.

"Look, Pidmon, I know it may not seem much, but I had been having these odd dreams of a stranger known as the Digimon Emperor; I can't help but feel that perhaps, in all of this, those dreams have lead me to seek this place out. Tell me, did such a disaster befall this world, or did Diablomon snuff out everyone like you had said?" T.K. asks, as Pidmon looks down a bit.

"... Perhaps it would be best if I took you to the jail cells..." Pidmon speaks, as T.K., Iori, and MagnaAngemon gasp, as Pidmon opens the doorway off to the side to a lone jail cell coming into view.

Inside was a much older male than who T.K. had visions of, one who wore the same attire, except now looking in a complete state of ruin, as the man is growling, snarling, yelling in an ungodly howl in some very, very angry tone from which neither T.K. nor Iori wanted to know what the meaning of the words he was saying were.

"You fools! You're all fools! This world is dead, finished! I got what I wanted; Daemon and Diablomon, free to run amuck. Was it worth it, of course it was not worth it! That abomination has been eating away at my being for ages now being locked up in this cell; you foolish creatures think you stand a chance against what I had unleashed?! Why?! I thought I had them under control, but if I couldn't even control them myself, what chances of you sick fucks thinking you could stand a chance against those parasitic bastards?! Huh?! I want to know what happened to Daemon; what happened to Yggdrasill; what happened to ME!!! You all will tell me! You will tell me EVERYTHING!!! You all thought I was a Mysterious Boy at one point, when in reality I am a Mysterious Man! I am the one who has the last laugh, no matter how much pain and suffering I endured because of my actions! I don't regret anything, so go ahead! Finish me off! It won't do you any good knowing every other world is cursed the exact same destiny! Don't lie to me and pretend you think you can change it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (AN: Not bothering with the POV for once, this chapter and the others just like this one are too important for me to utilize that for. I can't have T.K.'s unreliable narrator status get in the way with what's going on here.)


	17. Chapter 15: Disrupted Connection

MagnaAngemon was startled by the oddly familiar appearance of this man, as T.K. and Iori averted their gaze from the bright, flashing lights emanating from entire missing chunks from the man's composition. His entire figure looked like a living stream of data only vaguely taking humanoid shape, having severely been damaged, with what remains of his clothing being what's keeping most of the severity of the damage hidden from view.

"You think you've won, Angels? You think you can contain me for this long?! Just you wait! I will be free soon enough! Though I should be more concerned for your so called reinforcements having to leave so soon as opposed to anything else at the moment!" The Mysterious Man speaks, as MagnaAngemon is suddenly struck with an intense, electrical surge that causes him to fall down to his knees.

"What was that?!" MagnaAngemon asks, as Pidmon looks at him with concern.

"The X-Virus that pollutes the entire atmosphere of this world is affecting your systems. I advise you head back to your own world now, as you haven't built up an immunity to it like I or anyone else still here have done so just yet." Pidmon speaks, as MagnaAngemon shakes his head, as T.K. looks at him with a gasp.

"MagnaAngemon, I don't know what he's referring to but I feel it best we leave before whatever this thing is gets worse." T.K. tells him, as Iori nods.

"You saw what happened out there that nearly killed us with those endless amount of arms; what if this thing depowers you to the point you can't get back up to Champion or further? You wouldn't be able to protect any of us out there with this thing affecting you and possibly doing worse!" Iori speaks, as Pidmon looks at MagnaAngemon as MagnaAngemon is quiet.

"Please, listen to reason, Archangel; there is still hope for what needs to be done so long as you'll eventually be brought back here regardless. I insist you retreat for now, possibly bring reinforcements with you the next time you wind up being dragged here." Pidmon speaks to MagnaAngemon, as MagnaAngemon reluctantly nods.

"Alright, but how do we lea-"

MagnaAngemon didn't even get a chance to finish what he was saying as he immediately vanished into thin air, with T.K. and Iori both vanishing from Pidmon's view as well, as from what little can be seen from the Mysterious Man's face grins at the sight of this.

"Oh, don't worry, Pidmon; they'll be back indeed, just in time to see this world perish and all hope destroyed for good along with it... You can count on it!"

* * *

T.K. and Iori are now both back in the computer room with a few other students watching them reappear out of thin air, as T.K. and Iori look around in shock. However, the students are calmed down by an odd figure in the room, as if their presence was enough to calm them down and resume their studies.

"How do you think we'll get back to that world and help Pidmon?" Iori asks, as T.K. tries to think on it.

"Knowing how we both got in and got out, I doubt we'll have any actual choice on the matter for when exactly it'll happen again." T.K. speaks, as Iori nods.

"It's going to be inevitable no matter how we look at it, but whether or not we'll even bring reinforcements of something I'll be surprised if we can manage or not." Iori tells him, as both of them hear a message arrive on their PCs, with them both looking at their individual chat room to see Pidmon as having entered it.

* * *

{My apologies for the chaos with how sudden that was; I did what I felt was necessary to ensure future contact is maintained.}

{By bringing us back?} Iori types.

{Actually, by breaking into this specific PC and trying to establish a port with it as to allow you to use this exact PC you're on right now to come back to this specific reality whenever you get the chance.} Pidmon answers, as T.K. types next.

{So regarding this immunity to the X-Virus... How do we go about acquiring an immunity for it?}

{To my knowledge, there is a program called an X-Protector hidden within a place you've apparently been to according to Our Lord. The Palace of the Royal Knights, if I'm recalling correctly His Words.}

"..."

{That'll be quite an effort to get back in their knowing what happened last time I was there.} T.K. responds, as Iori watches T.K. message Pidmon regarding this. While he was there to see Lady Sigma introduce herself, Davis was only able to inform him and Miyako about his side of the events that happened there.

{Either way, this connection won't last for very long; it'll be at least a few days at most before you can find your way back into this realm. Use that time to look into the X-Protector program, as right now my connection isn't stable enough to tell you more on it myself. I am sorry, but there is only so much I can do to keep in touch.}

* * *

Pidmon's connection to the server ends just several seconds after that message, just as Iori was trying to type something up to ask only for Pidmon to abruptly disappear.

"Dang, now what?" Iori asks T.K., as T.K. shakes his head.

"As much as we should look into this, the only people I know who could help are more than likely in class still. Even then I think we should just head to class ourselves and process all of this while we're still able to have some breathing room on the matter." T.K. tells Iori, as Iori nods in confirmation.

"Sounds good, perhaps I'll meet up with you on the roof when it's time for lunch? That's where myself, Daisuke, and Miyako meet up when we eat lunch together here. I figured you and possibly Hikari would like to join us after what all you've done for us so far. You don't mind, do you?" Iori asks, as T.K. shakes his head.

"I don't mind, I guess we'll meet again at lunch when our morning classes are over." T.K. says, as he moves to log off of the computer and prepare to head out. Iori, though, looks at his Digivice as he pulls it out of his pocket.

Something about that other world was indeed strange to him, even though it didn't appear to be relevant to him. Ever since looking at that painting, however, he couldn't help but feel as though there was someone else who had summoned them there in the first place. Someone calling our for help, and at the same time, someone looking specifically for Iori himself.


End file.
